This week, new laws that target the illegal possession of knives will take effect in New South Wales.

As a result of these changes, police officers will be able to use handheld scanners to stop and scan individuals in designated areas, which includes public transport, shopping precincts, certain sporting venues, and events that are a part of our night-time economy.

Senior police officers will be able to declare these zones for up to 12 hours, with an option to extend that timeframe if specific criteria are met.

Importantly, these powers can be turned on for areas where there have been issues related to knife crime or knife possession offences where one of the following have occurred in the last 12 months.

These laws work because they send a strong message,: that if you're going on a night out, don't take a knife with you, as there's a very good chance you'll be scanned and caught out.

These reforms build on my Government's continued efforts to address knife-related crime, such as doubling the penalties for knife-related offences and selling knives to children under 16, as well as creating an new offence to prohibit the sale of knives to 16 and 17 year olds, without a reasonable excuse.

As the Premier of NSW, my focus will always be to do everything we can to keep our community safe.