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Australian supermarkets are restricting the sale of an everyday kitchen staple as part of a major crackdown on crime.
Popular Smeg knives, redeemable at Coles, have been pulled from shelves at 26 stores across the country amid safety fears.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Australian supermarkets in knife crackdown.
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Most stores, 24 of them, are in Victoria, but there are bans in Queensland and NSW too, including Sydney’s Bondi Junction where six people were fatally stabbed earlier this year.
“We hear from our team members, we hear from the community that they would rather not have them in those stores because of particular incidents that have occurred,” Coles spokesperson Martine Alpins said.
Where knives are still for sale, staff have received training and refreshed about the laws in their state.
The reaction from customers has been mixed, with some calling it a “good idea” and others arguing it is an “overreaction”.
Woolworths also no longer stocks knives in 350 of its stores after a stabbing attack at a Melbourne checkout in 2021.
Aldi says it follows all legislation when selling its special buys knives.
Victoria and Queensland have some of the strictest knife laws in the country.
In those states, retailers are only allowed to sell them to people over 18.
It is the same in WA, with some exceptions for knives considered “low risk”, like kitchen knives.
The SA government is expected to lift the minimum age to buy a knife from 16 to 18.
In NSW and the ACT, it is an offence to sell a knife to a child under 16.
“They’re available at many retailers across Australia and they should be available but I think it’s important for retailers to be conscious of what’s going on,” Alpins said.
