A teenager has been stabbed and several others injured during a fight at a shopping centre, one year after a state government announced it was banning the sale of machetes.
The 16-year-old boy was rushed to hospital after he was involved in the brawl outside a busy cinema complex at Highpoint Shopping Centre in Melbourne's west about 7pm on Wednesday.
A knife was located at the scene and seized by police, with a group of people fleeing the scene once police arrived.
Two other teenagers suffered minor injuries and did not require hospital treatment, while the 16-year-old boy was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
It comes a year since the Victorian government announced an Australian-first ban on the sale of machetes in the state, with data showing that a record amount of knives have since been taken off the streets.
Shoppers and workers ran for their lives in May 2025 when a wild fight broke out between machete-wielding rival gangs at Northland Shopping Centre.
The incident sparked widespread debate and led to law changes, including the ban that came into effect on September 1, alongside the introduction of the $13 million machete bin program.
"We encourage all Victorians to play their part to dry up the supply of machetes in our community," Police Minister Anthony Carbines said during the amnesty in September.
Officers in 2025 seized more than 17,000 knives and edged weapons, equating to 48 knives, machetes and "zombie knives" per day.
About 3000 knives have already been seized this year, according to data provided to AAP on Thursday.
Paul Burke, chief executive of child safety organisation Les Twentyman Foundation, said he believed the machete bins had been effective - to an extent.
"Any initiative that gets weapons off the streets and out of the hands of the people that don't need them is a good thing," he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
"There wasn't many 14 or 15-year-olds that we were aware of that were prepared to walk up to the front door of a police station with a CCTV camera over the top and drop a machete in the bin."
Data shows stabbing incidents across the state fell by 11 per cent over the past year, with most victims were adults and almost a third were under the age of 25.
However, police intelligence shows stabbing incidents involving child offenders have increased by more than 55 per cent, with those under 18 responsible for just over a quarter of all stabbings.
Random stabbings accounted for one per cent of incidents, with one in five incidents being family violence-related.