Police can now search anyone without a warrant in inner Melbourne. How? – video

Victoria police have made the unprecedented move of assigning a 10 sq km area of inner Melbourne as a 'designated area' for six months. It means that from 30 November 2025 to 29 May 2026, police can conduct pat-downs and search vehicles for weapons without a warrant. How are they allowed to do this? Guardian Australia's Victorian state correspondent Benita Kolovos explains the new powers being used by the police chief commissioner for the first time

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• ‘Vast overreach’: police allowed to conduct warrantless pat-downs of people across inner Melbourne for six months

• Lidia Thorpe joins critics of ‘outrageous’ expansion of police search powers in Melbourne as premier defends move