Recent proposals by a southeast metropolitan MP on revisions to self-defence laws in Victoria have the local community buzzing, with many, from online to neighbourhoods, rallying to support it.
Libertarian MP, David Limbrick, proposed a review of said laws, which was narrowly defeated in the state’s upper house 19-18 on 13 August.
Limbrick was looking to bring the proposal for a Law Reform Commission review into parliament, as Janine Greening, from Victoria Homicide Victims Support Group in Cranbourne, pushes for the same changes.
“Of course, they need revision; when it comes to home invasions, what can you do? Say someone breaks in and, like in such cases with my mother, people end up being murdered?
“But when it comes to the street and someone comes to attack you and you hurt the other person trying to prevent it, you’re not thinking about how you’re going to do it, you don’t have the time, you’re just trying to keep alive,” she said.
Greening has been and continues to be a longstanding advocate for victims of crime.
Speaking to Star News in 2017, Greening spoke on the horrors that her mother had been a victim of, where the two youths who bashed and strangled her mother to death in Rosebud may never be identified.
The perpetrators, who would now be in their 30s, were not added to the sex offenders’ register, though they sexually assaulted 75-year-old Marie Greening Zidan and killed her in front of her disabled son.
Adding that when it comes to times of assault, she emphasised “there’s no time to think”, that actions that could lead to the perpetrator’s injury or overall demise could be likely and that the “double standards” should not exist.
“This is where we’re at, over the last 30 years, these laws, nothing has changed,” she said.
“We hurt [perpetrators] them or do something to them, or, by chance, someone dies from it, then we could get charged, so where are the scales of justice?”
Victorian Attorney-General, Sonya Kilkenny, said to the ABC that the state’s existing self-defence laws were proportionate.
According to the masthead, Kilkenny said that “our self-defence laws here in Victoria are proportionate, and Victorians are encouraged, in fact, we plead with Victorians, to please continue to call Victoria Police in any emergency situation.”
“Self-defence laws are about what’s reasonable, what’s a reasonable amount of force in any situation,” she said.
Victims in Victoria can now access a streamlined Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) covering counselling, medical and safety costs, and lost earnings, which replaced the court-based Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal (VOCAT) only on 18 November 2024.
The FAS can provide primary victims of crime with up to $61,499 in financial assistance, as well as funeral expenses and additional financial assistance payments depending on the offence category.
Once news broke to outlets such as ABC, 7News, 10News, and others, netizens on the Casey Crime Page on Facebook were quick to jump on the topic, and many also agreed with the push for change.
The current self-defence laws in Victoria see that a person who defends themselves (in any situation), believes that it was necessary and that it was a reasonable response in the circumstances as they had perceived them.
Limbrick said that “it’s disturbing” when it comes to the number of people he had spoken to in the south-east, who have either experienced or know someone who has experienced a home invasion.
“People tell me they are worried about their safety and confused about what they are allowed to do, so I think it’s high time we strengthened and clarified the laws about self-defence,” he said.
While the details of the changes are not yet clear, other self-defence laws, such as castle laws in the UK and the US that apply to one’s property, have boundaries that give greater powers to home and business owners.
This means that the belief of necessity for reasonable force to be used by the owners against intruders becomes unnecessary.
As for Greening’s son, Daniel, he said that, as the victim of an assault when he was a teenager, there is a chance that the victim “can be the bad guy in a scenario”.
Greening, in the same context, added that people should have the right to defend their homes, but that people are not “setting out to murder the perpetrators”.
“But how they define defending, there need to be serious conversations about that,” she said.
Star News spoke to a number of shoppers at Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, many of whom were more than supportive of these changes.
One lady said that she “absolutely” believes in the need for changes, and that “if we can’t protect our own things and our families, then who is?”
“If the people have the courage and the confidence, the ability and strength to do something, then 100 per cent.
“I’m a single mum, I’ve got a bat next to my bed at all times, and to be honest with you, if I do manage to swing back and defend myself, I wouldn’t be thinking, ‘oh, what’s the law around this?’,” she said.
Another shopper said that they were “fully behind” the proposal and that if someone were to “harm my parents or take our things, we’re going to defend ourselves”.
Many also said that the fear for themselves and family does not mean they are looking to hurt others, with another shopper saying that “I just don’t want to get in trouble for trying to protect my family”.
According to the Crime Statistics Agency, the City of Casey, in the year ending in March 2025, recorded 2155 offences related to burglaries and breaking and entering, a 26.17 per cent increase from the previous year’s figure of 1708.
Theft also saw a 28 per cent increase in the same 2025 time frame, with 10,577 recorded offences, up from the previous year’s figure of 8263.
Private residential dwellings were also on a steady rise during the same period, recording 11,893 offences, up 10.3 per cent from 2024’s figure of 10,777 offences.
This story is developing. Star News is sourcing comments from legal and criminology experts for a follow-up piece, which will look to explore the potential benefits and risks of reforming Victoria’s self-defence laws.
