After Highpoint - What the Machete Incident Tells Us About Active Armed Offender Preparedness in Australian Shopping Centres
This week a man was detained inside Highpoint Shopping Centre in Melbourne's west after allegedly wielding a machete. During trading hours. Staff and shoppers inside. One of Australia's largest and most recognisable retail destinations.
And it raises a question every retail manager and shopping centre operator in the country should be asking right now: Would your team know what to do?
Active Armed Offender Doesn't Mean Firearm
This is the most important thing to understand and the thing most people get wrong.
In Australia an active armed offender is far more likely to involve a blade than a firearm. A knife. A machete. Our strict gun laws mean blade violence in public spaces is the more common threat and it's increasing.
Northland. Highpoint. Eaton Mall. Multiple machete incidents at Australian shopping centres in the past twelve months alone. Victoria has fast-tracked a machete ban in direct response.
This is not a rare or isolated problem. It is a pattern and retail teams need to be prepared for it. The good news? The response framework is exactly the same regardless of the weapon.
The Escape, Hide, Tell, Act Framework. Four steps. Designed to be remembered under pressure. Built for retail and shopping centre environments.
Escape - If there's a safe route out, use it immediately.
Hide - If escape isn't possible, find cover fast.
Tell - Once safe, call 000.
Act - Only as a last resort if escape and hiding are not possible. Act with full commitment. Create distance. Use barriers in your environment.
The Gap That Worries Me
As a trained law enforcement officer I can tell you that incidents like Highpoint happen far more often than what makes the news. And a 2025 national report on retail safety confirms what I see in every team we work with - 72% of retail workers have received safety training, but only 47% feel sufficiently prepared for what they actually face. That gap is where incidents happen. Most retail inductions cover manual handling and emergency evacuation. They don't cover what to do when the threat is a person wielding a machete 50 metres away. That's the gap SitSafe closes.
Your WHS Obligation
Under Australian workplace health and safety law employers have a duty to protect workers from foreseeable risks.
After a pattern of machete incidents at shopping centres across Victoria - that risk is now clearly foreseeable.
Preparation isn't optional. It's your obligation.
What to Do Now
Walk your store - do all staff know their two nearest exits?
Check your training - does it cover active armed offender scenarios specifically?
Build a signal system - does your team have a discreet way to alert each other?
Invest in practical training - not a policy document, not a video, but real scenario-based preparation
SitSafe delivers practical, tailored Active Armed Offender and de-escalation training for retail teams and shopping centres across Australia. Every program is built around your specific environment - not just a generic textbook curriculum.
If the events at Highpoint this week have prompted a conversation worth having - we'd love to be part of it.
