Victoria Police have declared the entire Melbourne CBD — along with large parts of surrounding suburbs — a "designated area" for the next six months, sparking criticism.

The declaration will give police expanded stop-and-search and move-on powers across central Melbourne. The order takes effect from Sunday and will remain in place until 29 May 2026, with Victoria Police saying they will be "commencing further safety measures in the CBD" ahead of the declaration's beginning.

Under the legislation, it is an offence to prevent or resist police conducting a "pat down" search, electromagnetic wanding, or removing "items of outer clothing such as headwear, scarves, jackets, etc".

Police may also require a person to remove any face covering if they reasonably believe it is worn primarily to conceal identity or "protect from the effects of crowd-controlling substances".

"A police officer may also exercise their power under the Act to direct you to leave the designated area if you refuse to remove a face covering," a police statement said.

"It is an offence under the Act to obstruct or hinder a police officer or PSO [Protective Services Officers] in the exercise of a power to stop and search a person or vehicle or to fail to comply with a direction to leave the designated area."

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe said the decision was outrageous and attacked Premier Jacinta Allan, whom she accused of throwing Victorians "under the bus".

"This is unprecedented police powers," she told ABC Radio on Wednesday. "We know that racial profiling is a massive problem in Victoria."

Inner Melbourne Community Legal CEO, Nadia Morales, described the move as "overkill." In a statement to Guardian Australia, she said: "What it means is that a police officer or protective services officer can stop and search anyone, no questions asked, at any time in the CBD and its surrounds."

"People who are stopped randomly by police tell us it is humiliating and makes them feel like they have done something wrong."

First Nations groups have long protested the increase in police powers for Victoria Police, which they say targets marginalised communities. Earlier this week, Victoria Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) CEO, Nerita Waight, told National Indigenous Times: "Abuses of power and discrimination against Aboriginal people by Victoria Police is not the case of 'a few bad apples'."

Victoria Police say the CBD is the first area to "receive this declaration for this length of time under the recent changes to the Control of Weapons Act".

A spokesperson said: "These operations are an invaluable tool in assisting police with removing weapons from the streets, as knife crime in Victoria has risen."

The behaviour of police towards First Nations communities in Victoria once again came under fire this week. On Monday, National Indigenous Times reported new data showing Aboriginal people are 15 times more likely to be searched by Victoria Police than Caucasian people.

Despite banning racial profiling in 2015, Freedom of Information data showed the force was also 10 times more likely to use force against a person they perceived as Aboriginal than someone they perceived as White in 2024, and 10.6 times more likely to use force against an Aboriginal woman than a White woman.

Ms Waight said the findings confirm long-held concerns within Indigenous communities.

"These rates are astonishing, and the report highlights Victoria Police members continue to engage in disturbing racist policing practices with little accountability and no independent oversight," she said.

Senator Thorpe pointed to the findings on Wednesday.

"There's been a recent report which the premier has seen from the Centre Against Racial Profiling that clearly points out that police profile black and brown people in Victoria," she said.

"So I see a lot of harm being done from these ridiculous powers. Police have enough powers, and we see through that report that Aboriginal people, particularly, are 15 times more likely to be searched than white people."

In 2023, then-Chief Commissioner Shane Patton appeared before the Yoorrook Justice Commission and apologised to First Nations people in Victoria for "police actions that have caused or contributed to the trauma experienced by so many Aboriginal families in our jurisdiction".

The force has since been open in their steps towards fostering a closer relationship with First Nations people through policing.

In 2024, a ceremonial shield — designed by Taungurung man Uncle Mick Harding — was presented to Victoria Police to sit in the entrance to the police headquarters on Spencer Street.

A Victoria Police spokesperson said the force "has zero tolerance towards racial profiling".

"Our officers are well trained to police in response to a person's behaviour, not their background," they said. "If you aren't carrying a weapon, you don't have anything to worry about."

This week, a policy expanding PSOs' powers and deploying them in shopping centres over the Christmas period — introduced after several high-profile incidents — was also condemned by legal advocates as "insulting and disingenuous". It classifies shopping centres as a "designated area," enabling PSOs to carry firearms, conduct searches based on reasonable suspicion and make arrests.

"This ramming through of legislation to try and appease the voting public is insulting and disingenuous," Ms Waight said.

"This is not leadership, this is not about community safety, this is about power and control. We should all be concerned about this government's approach."