An organiser of Melbourne’s annual Invasion Day rally and an 80-year-old environmental activist are leading a federal court challenge against a Victoria police declaration allowing them to stop and search anyone in the CBD for the next six months.

The Human Rights Law Centre, acting for plaintiffs Tarneen Onus Browne and Benny Zable, filed the challenge on Monday and said they want it heard by the federal court before an Invasion Day rally planned for 26 January.

Onus Browne is a Gunditjmara, Yorta Yorta, Bindal and Meriam community organiser involved in the annual Naarm Invasion Day rally, which sees thousands march through city streets. Zable has appeared at hundreds of environmental and anti-war protests in his “Greedozer” costume, which includes a gas mask.

Environmental activist Benny Zable in his ‘Greedozer’ costume. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP

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The legal challenge argues the six-month designation over such a large area is invalid because it is not “necessary” to address the risk of weapons offences. It argues the declaration breaches the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, including the rights to peaceful assembly, privacy, freedom of expression and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention.

Police can now search anyone without a warrant in inner Melbourne. How? – video

It also argues that the police powers granted in designated areas – requiring people to remove face coverings and allowing officers to order them to move on if they refuse – are unconstitutional because they interfere with the protected freedom of political communication, which includes the right to peaceful assembly.

Police last month declared the CBD, Docklands, Southbank and the sporting and entertainment precinct and parts of East Melbourne and South Melbourne as a “designated area” from 30 November 2025 until 29 May, 2026.

The declaration gives police and protective services officers (PSOs) the power to stop and search anyone – without a warrant or reasonable grounds.

Searches may involve an electronic wand or a pat-down and people may be asked to remove outer clothing and to empty bags or pockets. Vehicles can also be searched.

The zone declared by Victoria police as a ‘designated area’ until 29 May 2026 under the Control of Weapons Act. Photograph: Victoria police

Under the act, it is an offence to “obstruct or hinder” an officer or PSO conducting a search.

Previously, the Control of Weapons Act limited the declaration of designated areas to 12 hours, but the Victorian government amended the law earlier this year to allow declarations of up to six months as part of its plan to tackle knife crime.

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When introducing the bill, the government acknowledged the measure was partly incompatible with the human rights charter.

Further amendments passed parliament last week that expand designated areas to “major transit points”, such as train stations and bus stops, and to permit search notices to be issued electronically.

Police were also given the power search children under 18 and people with intellectual impairments without a parent, guardian or independent person present if they reasonably believe urgent circumstances require it – such as preventing evidence from being destroyed or protecting someone’s safety. These changes were also considered partly incompatible with the charter.

Sarah Schwartz (centre) from the Human Rights Law Centre will represent Tarneen Onus Browne (left) and Benny Zable (right) in their challenge against Victoria police. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP

Onus Browne said they were bringing the case because they were worried about the impact of the designated area on human rights and safety in the CBD – including during the Invasion Day rally.

“These new police powers will supercharge the harassment and targeting of our community on this important day, and deter First Nations people and allies from showing up and exercising their right to protest,” they said.

Zable, whose retired versions of his Greendozer costume are on display in the National Museum of Australia in Canberra and at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, said it was both performance art and a political statement. But recently, while in the CBD, he has been told to remove the costume.

“I’m worried that police will now have more powers to use more violence against me, as well as other people who wear masks for all sorts of reasons, including vulnerable people,” he said.