As the United Kingdom introduces a legislation to ban zombie knives and machetes, let’s break down the big questions. What are these new laws? Why have they been introduced? And with some recent stabbing incidents and a slowly increasing knife crime rate in Australia, could we see changes here too?

What are the new UK knife laws?

Announced earlier this year under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government, the laws make it illegal to possess or distribute purpose-built knives in the UK. A zombie knife is a bladed weapon with a plain cutting edge, a sharp pointed end, and a blade length over eight inches long. Machetes on the other hand, are broad-bladed knives primarily with a purpose in agriculture but can also function as a weapon.

The British Government, now led by Prime Minister Kier Starmer’s Labour, has implemented an amnesty and compensation period. This means that until 23 September, owners of zombie knives and machetes can turn over their weapons to the authorities and are eligible for compensation.

Why have these laws been introduced?

Since 2019, there have been around 50,000 knife-related offences per year in the UK. In 2023, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that police-recorded instances of crime had risen by seven percent nationally. This rose by a further four percent between March of 2023 and 2024. The situation in Britain has been worsening annually, and these laws aim to curb these trends.

A report from the House of Commons Library shows that across the UK in 2022/23, 19,000 cautions and convictions were made for knife crime. Of this total, 18 percent were from kids aged between 10-17.

These new laws aim to continue the work being done to reduce the rate of knife crime and further improve public safety. In the past five years, the UK has seen a five percent reduction in knife crime and hospitalisation rates of stabbing victims aged younger than 25 have fallen by a quarter.

Do we have a knife problem in Australia?

Moving closer to home, homicide and related offences are becoming a growing concern. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), homicide rates have slowly increased nationally, with a third of offences in New South Wales involving a knife. In Queensland, knife crime rose by 40 percent between 2014 and 2019.

Dr Terry Goldsworthy, a criminologist at Bond University and former detective inspector, says that over the five-year period since those figures were recorded, there have been some alarming trends.

“Since 2019 knife crime in Queensland has gone up by 18 percent and within that you have people under the age of 18. For youth offenders, the increase is 22 percent,” he said.

“It seems to me the problem is kids carrying the knives, maybe not necessarily using the knives as such but the thing that’s concerning is the possession of knives in public has increased dramatically.”

In April of this year there were four stabbings across Sydney in five days. The worst of these were at Bondi Junction, where six people were killed, and at a church in the Western Sydney suburb of Wakeley, where Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed mid-sermon. Both events received widespread media coverage.

What are the knife laws in Australia?

In Australia, the varying rates of knife crime has resulted in each state creating its own laws. Recently there have been more calls to implement national legislation surrounding knives and harsher consequences for those caught in possession.

As each state implements different methods for tackling knife crime, the Australian government is collecting data on the effectiveness of each to inform the potential plans for national legislation.

For example, introduced in Queensland last year, wanding allows police to search people without a warrant if they suspect that a person is carrying a knife. The state has implemented Jack’s Law, allowing police to stop and search anyone for weapons on public transport and in nightclub areas across the state.

Could UK’s knife laws provide an effective solution for Australia?

Victoria passed the Firearms and Control of Weapons (Machetes) Amendment Bill, making it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to carry a machete.

Despite this, the accessibility of knives poses an issue for Australian police. Experts say there are obvious difficulties faced when it comes to enforcing restrictions on household utensils, due to the fact they can be used as weapons. In the UK the new law is focused on blades not usually used for slicing fruits and vegetables, as zombie knives in particular are purpose-built weapons.

These difficulties in regulation are why Dr Glynn Greensmith, a journalism lecturer at Curtin University who specialises in the relationship between journalism and democracy, says similar laws to those implemented in the UK would be difficult to introduce here in Australia.

“Everyone in their kitchen has a knife. Usually big, usually sharp, so there’s only so far you can go with knives,” he says.

Dr Goldsworthy says that for now, monitoring the progress of Australia’s state laws as well as those in Britain is the best course of action.

“You can only put these things in place and see if they have an effect and that’s why they need to be monitored,” he says. “We need to look at it in two years and see what these laws have achieved.”

Article: Ethan Rigg is a fourth-year Bachelor of Media and Communications (sports media) student at La Trobe University. You can follow him on Twitter @ethanrigg7.

Photo: Knives Sheathed by Bill Bradford is available HERE and is used under a Creative Commons License. This image has not been modified.