Following a shopping centre brawl in Melbourne at the weekend, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has announced the state will ban the sale of all machetes from Wednesday.

In March this year, the Victorian government had already announced that machetes would become a “prohibited weapon” from September 1.

Prohibited weapons are items considered inappropriate for general possession and use without a police commissioner’s approval or a Governor in Council Exemption Order.

This means machetes will be added to the list of things – such as swords, crossbows, slingshots, pepper spray and about 40 other items – that are essentially banned.

Possession of a prohibited item can result in penalties of two years imprisonment or a fine of more than $47,000.

Victoria is the first state in Australia to outright ban machetes. In other jurisdictions, machetes (like knives) may be used for

© The New Daily