Tackling knife crime in South Australia

We want to hear your views on South Australia’s knife laws and potential options for strengthening them.

What's being decided?

We are considering potential reform to South Australia’s knife laws.

Some of the reform options being considered are:

• expanding police metal detector search powers
• increasing the age for selling knives from 16 to 18 years
• requiring the safe storage of knives for sale and displaying prohibition notices (similar to graffiti gear)
• expanding the definition of ‘school’ to include tertiary institutions and preschools
• introducing a licensing or registration scheme for certain categories of knife.

Reforms to knife laws are being considered in order to:

• better target the possession of knives for unlawful purposes
• reduce knife crime
• keep the community safe.

Background

The safety of the community is a top priority for the South Australian Government. With recent incidents involving knives taking place here and interstate, we are considering potential reform to our knife laws.

South Australia already has tough laws to address knife crime, including criminal offences for carrying knives and other offensive weapons – especially in schools and licensed premises – and measures to keep knives out of the hands of children.

Get involved

We want to hear from the South Australian community and work together to maintain the safety of our state.

Find out more:

• read the Discussion Paper
• see the knife crime summary
• take a look at our FAQs

Have your say by:

• emailing a submission to LLPSubmissions@sa.gov.au
• taking our survey.

What are the next steps?

Your feedback will help inform the Government’s decision to amend our existing knife laws, and ensure any changes are fair and workable for the community.