VICTORIA Police powers to search people for weapons without warrants within the Bayside Shopping Centre precinct have been extended for four months.
At the beginning of the year, Victoria Police designated the Frankston’s Bayside Shopping Centre precinct as a “Designated Area under section 10D of the Control of Weapons Act 1990”. The declaration allows police to warrantless weapon searches, including electronic wand searches, vehicle and bag searches, and frisks (“Expanded police powers at shops” The Times, 12/1/2026). That designation was scheduled to expire on 28 February, but last week was extended until 30 June.
The expanded police powers have proved divisive – a designated area declaration made for Melbourne’s CBD in late 2025 was revoked four months early after it was challenged in the Federal Court.
The boundary of the Bayside Shopping Centre precinct affected is Fletcher Road at the north; Young Street and Horne Street to the east; Wells Street and Park Lane to the south; and Thompson, Keys, Olsen, and Evelyn Streets to the west.
First published in the Frankston Times – 3 March 2026