'Promise to Jack': parents warn about fatal knife crime

Their son fatally stabbed and left on a footpath to bleed out, the parents of teenager Jack Beasley are making good on their promise to keep his name alive.

More than 3000 students in regional NSW heard the sobering reality of how lives were being shattered by the increasingly ubiquitous weapons.

Extra presentations by Jack Beasley's parents will be held at 12 schools in the Wollongong and western Sydney areas, including Blacktown, Mount Druitt, Campbelltown, Bankstown, Fairfield and Penrith.

The state-backed education campaign launched on Wednesday follows numerous stabbings involving teenagers in Sydney.

These include the death of a 19-year-old man and the maiming of another in an ambush at a Mount Druitt transport interchange on August 27.

And a 17-year-old boy was charged on Wednesday over the stabbing of a 16-year-old male on Monday at Merrylands, also in western Sydney.

About 45 minutes down the road, a tearful Brett Beasley told reporters about the loss of his son in tragic circumstances as his wife Belinda stood alongside, wiping away tears.

They were instrumental in the Queensland government passing laws named after their 17-year-old son Jack, who was stabbed and left to die on a footpath on the Gold Coast days before Christmas in 2019.

"To lose a child, the pain is incredible," Mr Beasley told reporters in Campbelltown, on Sydney's southern outskirts.

"To lose a child to murder from a 15-year-old walking around with a knife is indescribable.

"We made Jack a promise the last time we saw him .... to keep his legacy alive and try to make changes to the law - which we did."

The One Moment education presentations are delivered by the Beasleys in partnership with local police to drive home how students' choices can impact their lives and others.

The campaign comes amid a national effort to stamp out stabbings, with almost a quarter of all homicide victims nationwide in 2023 involving the wielding of a knife - about 100 victims in total.

NSW Premier Chris Minns paid tribute to the Beasleys' strength and advocacy in driving change on youth violence.

"Carrying a weapon can turn a normal day into a tragedy, ruining and ending lives," the premier said on Wednesday.

"It could rob another family of their child (and) it could put you in prison and completely alter your trajectory."

The Minns government in December passed a raft of new laws modelled on Queensland's Jack's Law.

Those carrying a knife in a public place or school now face up to four years in jail.

The sale of sharp knives to children under 16 was also prohibited.

Police powers were also expanded in 2024 to wand or scan people without a warrant in public areas including sporting venues, shopping centres and transport hubs.

Penalties for various knife offences include a maximum four-year jail term and fines of up to $11,000.

More than 20,000 people have been scanned since the legislation was introduced, over 200 weapons seized and more than 100 people charged with weapon offences.