Document Relating To Single Handed Opening, Automatic & Assisted Opening Knives, June 2022 ​

Written by Claude Haiku 4.5 from the extracted text on 28 Feb 2026. It can miss or misread redacted and scanned pages. Check the source before relying on it.

This Department of Home Affairs procedural instruction from June 2022 establishes classification criteria for Schedule 13 prohibited weapons, specifically automatic and assisted opening knives. The document clarifies that automatic knives with spring mechanisms—including flick knives, switchblades, and assisted opening knives—are prohibited imports. It specifies that knives requiring only initial pressure on a thumb stud or flipper to deploy automatically are prohibited only if they contain internal springs or mechanisms; ball bearings alone do not trigger prohibition status. The instruction notes that deployment speed is irrelevant to prohibited status. Item 15 addresses automatic knife parts, with customs authorities authorized to seize component parts imported to circumvent permit requirements, including automatic combs with sturdy handles capable of blade substitution. ABF officers may detain or seize knives with suspected removed springs under Item 15 authority. The document provides visual examples of prohibited knife types.