Victoria police ends warrantless search declaration across inner Melbourne early

Victoria police have revoked their declaration of Melbourne’s CBD and surrounds as a designated area four months earlier than planned, meaning they will no longer be able to conduct warrantless searches after 11.59pm on 9 January 2026. Police updated their website on Friday to confirm the declaration, which was originally to run until 11.59pm on 29 May, will instead end on 9 January.

They did not provide a reason for the change. An urgent federal court hearing challenging the declaration, brought by Invasion Day organiser Tarneen Onus Browne and environmental activist Benny Zable, will begin on Monday, the police update said. The six-month declaration had given police and protective services officers the power to stop and search anyone without a warrant or reasonable grounds across the CBD, Docklands, Southbank, the sporting and entertainment precinct and parts of East and South Melbourne.

Searches could include an electronic wand or pat-down, removal of outer clothing or face coverings, and emptying bags or pockets; vehicles could also be searched. Under the act it is an offence to obstruct or hinder an officer conducting a search or to fail to comply with a direction to leave the designated area.

Liberty Victoria president Gemma Cafarella welcomed the revocation, and a Liberty report released last March found illicit items, including weapons, were seized in only 1% of searches conducted without a warrant or reasonable suspicion in designated areas over a two-year period.

Key Topics

Politics, Victoria Police, Melbourne Cbd, Weapons Search Declaration, Warrantless Searches, Tarneen Onus Browne