Control of Weapons Act 1990

This section applies if a protective services officer on duty at a designated place has reasonable grounds for suspecting that a person at or in the vicinity of a designated place is carrying or has in his or her possession in a public place a weapon contrary to this Act.

Subject to subsection (4), the protective services officer may, without a warrant—

search the person and any vehicle or thing in the person's possession or under the person's control for the weapon; and

seize and detain any item detected during the search that the protective services officer reasonably suspects is a weapon.

For the purposes of subsection (1), the fact that a person is present in a location with a high incidence of violent crime may be taken into account in determining whether there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the person is carrying a weapon or has a weapon in his or her possession.

Before a protective services officer commences a search of a person under subsection (2), the protective services officer must—

inform the person of the grounds for his or her suspicion; and

inform the person of the protective services officer's name, rank and place of duty; and

if requested to do so by the person, provide the information referred to in paragraph (b) in writing; and

produce his or her identification for inspection by the person, unless the protective services officer is in uniform; and

inform the person that he or she intends to search the person or thing (as the case requires) for weapons and is empowered to do so under this Act.

Clauses 1, 2, 4(2), 4(3), 5(2), 5(3), 5(4), 6, 11(1), 11(5), 12(1) and 12(5) of Schedule 1 apply to the search of a person or thing under this section as if—

a reference in that Schedule to a police officer were a reference to a protective services officer; and

a reference in that Schedule to a search under section 10 were a reference to a search under this section.

A protective services officer must conduct the least invasive search that is practicable in the circumstances.

A protective services officer may detain a person for so long as is reasonably necessary to conduct a search under this section.

To avoid doubt, a protective services officer may exercise any power under this section to search or detain a person, or seize and detain any item detected during the search, at or in the vicinity of a designated place.

In this section, weapon means—

a prohibited weapon; or

a controlled weapon; or

a dangerous article.