Protect protest - call for a ban on dangerous police weapons

Write to your Victorian representatives

Last week we saw police injure at least 100 protestors with rubber bullets, OC spray and stun grenades, causing one protestor to lose part of their ear. Independent legal observer accounts of the protests from Melbourne Activist Legal Support identified that coercive crowd maneuvers from police and the use of police weapons created tensions between police and protestors.

Media reporting of these tensions uncritically repeated police accounts of events, including the claim that acid was thrown at the police, with accounts since stating that police were sprayed with a smelly but harmless liquid.

Dangerous weapons at protests infringe on human rights and curtail communities’ capacity for democratic expression. Ten legal and human rights organisations have already called for them to be banned, including Amnesty International and Federation of Community Legal Centres Victoria.

Help protect protest rights by writing to your MP to demand:


  • An independent inquiry into the police response to Land Forces protests

  • A ban on dangerous police weapons

  • An independent body to investigate police misconduct.

At the Australian Democracy Network, we're dedicated to protecting your privacy. We collect personal information to keep you informed about our work and to share updates on our projects and fundraising appeals. We ensure your data is handled securely and respect your choices regarding the communications you wish to receive from us. For more details, please refer to our full privacy policy. We will only use your email address and any other personal information that you give us for this purpose and will not disclose it without your consent, except where we are required to do so by an Australian law or a court/tribunal order.