Teenage girls arrested after brawl at Melbourne shopping centre

Four girls and an 18-year-old woman have been arrested following a brawl at Melbourne's Northland Shopping Centre, the latest in a series of incidents at the popular retail precinct.

Victoria Police confirmed officers were patrolling the food court of the shopping centre in Preston when they saw a group of females brawling on Friday night.

Four girls aged 12, 14, 16, 17 and an 18-year-old woman were taken into custody.

The 14-year-old sustained minor injuries and was taken to hospital while the 12-year-old also suffered minor injuries and was treated by ambulance paramedics. She was released pending further enquiries.

The 18-year-old Coburg North woman along with the 16-year-old and 17-year-old were interviewed by police and are expected to be charged on summons.

Victoria Police said Operation Pulse officers seized a knife, which was allegedly produced during the brawl.

A police spokesman said Banyule Crime Investigation Unit detectives would be looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Friday's brawl is the latest in a series of violent incidents at Melbourne shopping centres in recent years.

In a high profile May 2025 incident, large crowds of people fled Northland as a brawl between 10 people involving machetes broke out in the food court.

At the time, police believed the attack occurred between two rival gangs, which left one man with serious injuries, and was motivated by "retaliation".

In a separate June 2025 incident, a sports utility vehicle was captured on a smart phone camera driving at speed through Northland Shopping Centre.

Figures from the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) showed there were 5,901 reported crimes at 13 major Melbourne shopping centres in the 2024-25 financial year, an increase of 20 per cent on the previous year.

Bayside Frankston recorded the highest number of incidents during the surveyed period, with Northland in second position and Westfield Fountain Gate in third spot.