Police powers to randomly scan people for weapons will hopefully make the public feel safer and deter people from carrying knives, the NSW premier says.
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"The fear or the sense that they may be 'wanded' or searched or scanned at a NSW train station, we hope changes the culture," Chris Minns said on Tuesday.
Queensland-style regulations that allow NSW officers to use metal-detecting wands without a warrant will be pushed forward after a recent spate of high-profile stabbing attacks.
They included a massacre at Sydney's Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in which six people were killed by a knife-wielding man in April.
The laws, which are yet to pass parliament, are intended to detect people carrying knives and the premier is hoping they will prompt a culture change.
"It's also to ensure that the public feels safe in major areas of crowds or public spaces ... and perhaps most importantly, to change the culture and send the message, to particularly young people, if they're going to go out at night, to not take a knife," he told reporters.
Designated areas to be covered by the laws include transport hubs, shopping centres and other public places where knife crimes had taken place in the past six months.
A high-ranking police officer would need to issue the authority, which would last for 12 hours but be extended when needed.
Mr Minns likened the use of wands to police deployment of random breath tests to target drink-driving, adding that everyone would be inconvenienced but the government was asking for the public to be patient.
The legislation will be similar to powers already in place in Queensland that were named after teenager Jack Beasley, who was stabbed to death on the Gold Coast in 2019.
His father, Brett Beasley, said the results of the NSW changes would likely be "scary".
He added that he had received thousands of messages from police and the community calling for Jack's Law to be introduced in the southern state.
"It'll be absolutely scary to find out how many people are actually walking around armed ... give it six months, you'll see how many weapons are off the streets," Mr Beasley told Sydney radio 2GB.
He is pushing for similar laws to be adopted nationwide and met with Western Australian politicians in April.
"Obviously Victoria is on the agenda ... this needs to go national," he said.
More than 500 weapons have been seized in Queensland since the laws were introduced in March 2023 allowing police to use hand-held metal detectors without warrants in designated night precincts and around transit hubs.
The NSW legislative changes will also make it illegal to sell knives to anyone under 18, with exemptions for those who need the implements for work or study.
The shift comes despite official figures showing knife-related offences, including assaults and robberies, consistently trending down in the state over the past two decades.
Australian Associated Press
