Knife laws in Queensland: the fundamentals

The central rule, and why it gets complicated

The central rule is straightforward: a person must not physically possess a knife in a public place or school unless the person has a reasonable excuse. The application of that rule, however, can be complex. The type of knife, the location, the person’s purpose, the way the knife is stored or carried and the surrounding circumstances can all be important.

This article outlines the main principles. It is intended as a foundation for more detailed articles dealing with individual topics, including carrying a knife for work and Jack’s Law and police wanding powers.

What counts as a knife?

For the main public possession offence, a knife is defined broadly. It includes a thing with a sharpened point or blade that is reasonably capable of being held in one or both hands and used to wound, or threaten to wound, anyone.

The definition can apply to more than items commonly described as weapons. Depending on the facts, it may include:

• a kitchen knife
• a fishing or filleting knife
• a pocket knife
• a multi-tool with a blade
• a box cutter or utility knife
• a ceremonial knife
• a specialist knife used for trade, work, farming or outdoor recreation

The label attached to an item is not decisive. A knife acquired for a lawful purpose can still create a legal issue if it is carried in a public place or school without a reasonable excuse.

Possessing a knife in a public place or school

Section 51 of the Weapons Act 1990 provides that a person must not physically possess a knife in a public place or school unless the person has a reasonable excuse.

The maximum penalty for a first offence is 50 penalty units or 18 months imprisonment. For a second or later offence, the maximum penalty is 100 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment.

Higher maximum penalties apply if the offender publishes material on a social media platform or online social network to advertise the offender’s involvement in the offence or the act or omission constituting the offence.

For this offence, a public place includes a vehicle that is in or on a public place. The general definition of public place under the Act includes a place the public is entitled to use, is open to the public or is used by the public, whether or not entry requires payment.

A school includes the premises of a State educational institution or non-State school. The prosecution does not need to prove that the person intended to use the knife. The central issue is physical possession in the relevant place without a reasonable excuse.

The importance of a reasonable excuse

A reasonable excuse is the central issue in many ordinary knife cases. The Weapons Act 1990 gives examples of circumstances that may amount to a reasonable excuse, including possessing a knife to perform a lawful activity, duty or employment, to participate in lawful entertainment, recreation or sport, to lawfully exhibit the knife or to use it for a lawful purpose.

Examples in the Act include a person using a knife for primary production, a fisher carrying a knife for fishing, a scout carrying a knife for scouting activities, a collector displaying a knife at an exhibition and a person carrying a knife for food preparation at a restaurant or picnic. The Act also refers to a pen knife or Swiss army knife carried for its normal utility purpose.

Whether an excuse is reasonable is assessed in context. A court may consider whether the way the knife is held, and the time and place at which it is held, would cause a reasonable person concern that someone may be threatened or harmed.

A tradesperson carrying a work knife in a toolbox while travelling directly to a job may be in a very different position from a person carrying the same knife in a pocket late at night in an entertainment precinct. Likewise, a camper transporting knives with other camping equipment may be in a different position from someone carrying a knife into a shopping centre without an apparent lawful purpose. We deal with the work situation in detail in carrying a knife for work in Queensland.

Self-defence is not a reasonable excuse for carrying a knife

Queensland law is clear that self-defence is not a reasonable excuse for physically possessing a knife in a public place or school under section 51 of the Weapons Act 1990.

This is sometimes misunderstood. Queensland criminal law recognises self-defence in particular circumstances where force is used in response to an assault. That does not mean a person may lawfully carry a knife in public in case it is needed for protection.

A person charged with possessing a knife in public cannot ordinarily answer the charge by saying the knife was carried for protection. If a knife is later used, the legal issues become more serious and may involve offences such as wounding, assault occasioning bodily harm, robbery, manslaughter or murder, depending on the facts.

Religious purposes

The Weapons Act 1990 recognises that genuine religious purposes may amount to a reasonable excuse for possessing a knife in a public place. The legislation gives the example of a Sikh person possessing a knife known as a kirpan for genuine religious purposes.

That reasonable excuse does not apply in a school. The Act expressly provides that genuine religious purposes are not a reasonable excuse for physically possessing a knife in a school.

This is a sensitive and fact-specific area. A person, school or organisation dealing with the issue should obtain advice before assuming that a general rule applies to the particular circumstances.

Knives in cars

A vehicle can form part of a public place for the section 51 offence if it is in or on a public place. A knife left in a car can therefore create legal risk, particularly if there is no longer a current lawful reason for having it there.

Common problem scenarios include:

• a work knife left in a vehicle after work
• a fishing knife left in a car days after a fishing trip
• a camping knife left loose in a glovebox
• a utility knife carried in a bag or console without a current work purpose
• a knife in a car while attending a school, licensed venue, public transport station or shopping centre

The issue is not simply ownership. Relevant questions include whether the person physically possessed the knife in a public place or school and whether there is evidence of a reasonable excuse. Work rosters, job requirements, fishing or camping arrangements, storage method, timing and location may all be important.

Category M weapons and prohibited knife types

Some knives and bladed items are regulated more seriously because they fall within category M under the Weapons Categories Regulation 1997.

Examples include ballistic knives, butterfly knives, flick knives, push knives, sheath knives of a specified design, star knives, trench knives, knives disguised in belts or credit card-style devices, and blades concealed in riding crops, walking sticks or canes.

These items are different from ordinary household knives. Possession, acquisition, supply or use may raise separate offences under the Weapons Act 1990. The consequences can be more serious because the item is a regulated weapon in its own right. Our guide to Weapons Act offences covers the wider penalty framework, including firearms and the other weapon categories.

A person should not assume that an item is lawful merely because it is available for sale online or described as a novelty, collectible, tactical item or display item. Queensland law looks at the design and characteristics of the item, not only the seller’s description.

Restricted items

Queensland law also regulates certain restricted items under section 67 of the Weapons Act 1990 and section 9 of the Weapons Categories Regulation 1997. A person must not, without reasonable excuse, possess or acquire a restricted item. The maximum penalty is 10 penalty units.

Restricted items include handcuffs, nunchaku, certain batons, studded gloves, certain laser pointers and certain replica firearms.

Restricted item offences are not the same as ordinary knife possession offences, but they often arise in similar factual settings. Some restricted items are also relevant to the controlled-item sales regime discussed below.

Selling knives and controlled items to minors

Queensland introduced specific laws regulating the sale of knives and other controlled items to minors. The offences became enforceable on 1 September 2024.

Under the Summary Offences Act 2005, a controlled item includes a knife other than an exempt knife, as well as items such as swords, machetes, axes, sickles, scythes, spear guns, spears and certain replica firearms. Exempt knives include plastic or wooden eating knives, knives with rounded or dull edges such as butter knives, and cheese knives.

A person must not sell a controlled item to a minor. The maximum penalty is 140 penalty units for a first offence, 280 penalty units for a second offence and 420 penalty units for a third or later offence. A defence may be available where the seller required acceptable evidence of age, the evidence indicated that the person was an adult and there was no reasonable basis for believing the evidence was false.

Commercial sellers have additional obligations. These include instructing employees not to sell controlled items to minors, warning employees about the consequences, obtaining written acknowledgement of those instructions, displaying prescribed signs and complying with secure-storage requirements for specified controlled items.

The Act also restricts the sale of controlled items marketed or promoted as suitable for combat, intended for violence against a person or fictional creature, or likely to encourage violent or criminal use. Packaging, markings and advertising can be relevant.

A minor also commits an offence by falsely representing that they are an adult for the purpose of being sold a controlled item.

Police wanding powers and Jack’s Law

Queensland police have specific hand-held scanner powers, commonly associated with Jack’s Law, to detect knives and other weapons in particular public settings. We cover the power, the locations it applies to and what happens after a metal alert in Jack’s Law in Queensland.

Under section 39BA of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000, a police officer may, without a warrant, require a person to stop and submit to the use of a hand-held scanner in a public place at, in or on specified relevant places. These include licensed premises, public transport stations, public transport vehicles, retail premises, safe night precincts, shopping centres and sporting or entertainment venues.

A senior police officer may also authorise the use of hand-held scanners at another public place if the officer considers that their use is likely to be effective in detecting or deterring an offence involving the possession or use of a knife or other weapon.

If the scanner indicates that metal is or may be present, police may require the person to produce the thing causing the indication and submit again to the scanner. Separate search powers may arise under the Act, including where a person fails to comply with a lawful requirement.

The Act contains safeguards. Police must exercise the power in the least invasive way practicable, detain the person only for as long as reasonably necessary, provide identification information when required and explain that the scanner is being used to determine whether the person is carrying a knife or other weapon.

Carrying, displaying or using a weapon in a public place

Knife cases do not always remain simple possession cases. If the item is a weapon for the purposes of the Weapons Act 1990, other provisions may apply.

Section 57 regulates particular conduct involving weapons in public places, including carrying a weapon exposed to view without a reasonable excuse. Section 58 prohibits dangerous conduct where, without reasonable excuse, the physical possession or use of a weapon is likely to cause death or injury, unlawful property damage or alarm to another person.

Self-defence is not a reasonable excuse for the relevant public-place conduct under section 57.

The same object can create different legal problems depending on how it is carried or used. A knife kept in a toolbox for a current lawful job is one thing. A regulated blade displayed in a public place in a way that alarms other people is another.

Criminal Code offences involving knives

If a knife is used, threatened or displayed in a way that causes fear, the matter may move beyond the Weapons Act 1990 and into the Criminal Code.

A person who goes armed in public without lawful occasion in a way that causes fear to another person may commit the offence of going armed so as to cause fear. The maximum penalty is 2 years imprisonment, with higher maximum penalties in specified aggravating circumstances, including certain online publication.

If someone is injured, more serious offences may arise. Unlawful wounding carries a maximum penalty of 7 years imprisonment. Assault occasioning bodily harm carries a maximum penalty of 7 years imprisonment, increasing to 10 years where the offender is or pretends to be armed with a dangerous or offensive weapon or instrument, or is in company.

If a knife is used or threatened during stealing, robbery offences may arise. Robbery ordinarily carries a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment. The maximum increases to life imprisonment in aggravated circumstances, including where the offender is or pretends to be armed with a dangerous or offensive weapon, is in company, wounds a person or uses personal violence.

Where a knife causes a death, the case may involve manslaughter or murder. Those cases are highly fact-specific and commonly turn on intention, causation, available defences and the surrounding circumstances.

Social media can make matters worse

Queensland law expressly treats some online publication as an aggravating feature. The Weapons Act 1990 increases maximum penalties for the section 51 knife possession offence if an offender publishes material on a social media platform or online social network to advertise involvement in the offence or the conduct constituting it.

The Criminal Code also provides higher maximum penalties for some offences where an offender publishes material advertising involvement in the offence. Examples include going armed so as to cause fear and assault occasioning bodily harm.

Photos, videos, captions and messages can become evidence. A person who posts about carrying, displaying or using a knife may create legal risk beyond the underlying conduct.

Common situations where people get into trouble

Knife-related charges often arise from ordinary situations that have escalated or been misunderstood. Common examples include:

• a tradesperson carrying a work knife outside work hours
• a young person carrying a pocket knife at a shopping centre
• a knife left in a car after camping or fishing
• a person taking a knife onto school grounds
• a utility knife in a bag at a public transport station
• a category M knife bought online and kept as a collectible
• a social media post showing a knife in public
• a shop selling a controlled item to a minor
• a person carrying a knife for protection

The legal question is rarely limited to whether there was a knife. The more important questions are usually: Where was it? Why was it there? What type of knife was it? How was it carried? Was it being used for a lawful purpose? Did it cause concern? Was it displayed, threatened or used? Was the person in a school or public place? Was there any online publication?

What a defence lawyer will usually examine

In a knife case, a defence lawyer will usually examine:

• whether the item legally qualifies as a knife, weapon, category M weapon or restricted item
• whether the location was a public place or school
• whether the prosecution can prove physical possession
• whether there is evidence of a reasonable excuse
• the person’s work, recreation, religious or other lawful purpose
• how the item was stored or transported
• whether the person’s explanation is supported by documents, witnesses or surrounding circumstances
• whether police used lawful scanner, search and seizure powers
• whether alleged social media material is admissible and what it actually proves
• whether any more serious Criminal Code allegation is made out

Small factual details can matter. A receipt, roster, job sheet, camping booking, fishing equipment, tool-storage arrangement, text message or witness statement may help explain why the knife was present.

Key takeaway

Queensland knife laws are not limited to obvious criminal conduct. A person can face criminal consequences for possessing a knife in a public place or school without a reasonable excuse even if the knife was not used.

The law is stricter again for certain regulated bladed weapons, sales to minors, public weapon conduct, police wanding locations and cases involving threats, injury, robbery or social media publication.

The safest practical approach is to treat a knife as a purpose-specific tool, not a general item to carry in public. If there is no current lawful reason to have it in a public place or school, there may be a legal risk.

Anyone charged with a knife-related offence, or contacted by police about one, should obtain legal advice before participating in an interview or making admissions. Contact us or call 07 5522 5777.