Since I usually carry around a pocket knife (as a utility tool), I thought it would be worthwhile researching the relevant laws to know where I stand. Basically, it seems that you cannot carry a knife for the purposes of self defence, however if you have a reasonable excuse (such as utility tasks, work or other lawful activity requirements) then you are allowed to carry a knife – no size restrictions. However, you must not carry/use/act with the knife in such a way that a “reasonable person” would be scared/concerned.

Here’s the two relevant acts/regulations that I found:

Weapons Categories Regulation 1997

Page 8, Section 7A Category M weapons (c),
any knife so designed or constructed so as to be used as
a weapon that while the knife is held in 1 hand, the blade
may be released by that hand;

The weapons category regulation, defines what is considered to be a category M weapon. My reading of this is that a knife is only a category M weapon if it is a knife that is designed as a weapon. If not for requirement for intended use as a weapon, then I believe a stanley knife would fall under this category. In the case of a linerlock type knife with opening studs, it is probably a bit grey, however if it was argued in court they’d need to show that it was designed or constructed as a weapon – something which I think would be pretty hard to do. (this is not for assisted openers or other such banned knives)

Weapons Act 1990
Page 74, Section 51 Possession of a knife in a public place or school

(1) A person must not physically possess a knife in a public place
or a school, unless the person has a reasonable excuse.
(2) It is a reasonable excuse for subsection (1) to physically
possess a knife—
(a) to perform a lawful activity, duty or employment; or
(b) to participate in a lawful entertainment, recreation or
sport; or
(c) for exhibiting the knife; or
(d) for use for a lawful purpose.

The weapons act, covers when it is allowable to carry a knife. Points 2a, b and d i believe are the relevant parts. So, a reasonable excuse would be if you use it for your work (stripping wires, cutting rope, opening packages etc) or, as per the example, for “normal utility purposes”. Note that this says nothing about knife types – as long as the  knife doesn’t fall into a weapons category (which, if used for lawful purposes as above, it doesn’t), then it says nothing about what is or isn’t covered. So, no limits on blade length, or limits on fixed blade knives or their size. Point 4 however, does mean that if you carry around a scary looking knife you could be in trouble.

If you’re in a motor vehicle accident and wish to obtain a copy of the Queensland Police investigation documents (for example, if you are fucked over by the police) there seem to be two ways to go about getting a copy:

• CITEC Confirm
• The Queensland Government’s Right to Information site

If you speak to police officers, it seems that the official method for access to your report is via CITEC. This costs (as at 2010-01-20) $70.70, and only actually provides you with a copy of the textual body of the report. Any attached documents, photos, scanned notes, drawings, or even statements which have been attached, rather than included are not part of the CITEC report, nor or they held by CITEC at all. The “Other Documents” mentioned in the CITEC Confirm application won’t get you these either – apparently it is for things like blood alcohol reading documents and other such things. As mentioned before, the police don’t actually transfer anything but the textual document to CITEC.

The other way, which I found out after I’d gotten a CITEC report and wondered where the hell all the information was, is to request a copy of all documents via the Queensland Government’s Right To Information (RTI) Act. This is a recent replacement of the Freedom of Information Act, and seems to work in a similar manner. A RTI request costs (as at 2010-01-20) $38 (unless the documents only contain personal information about you – probably not the case if it is a motor vehicle accident), and you can request copies of all relevant documents, not just textual information which is sent to CITEC.

I’m still waiting on my RTI request, but at this point I would say don’t even bother with a CITEC confirm report and go straight to a RTI request. It is much cheaper, and the CITEC confirm report is woefully inadequate in this sort of case.