Malcolm, Victorian law says you have to have a permit to have a 20mW laser pointer in your possession.
Amongst Victoria's listed prohibited weapons is:-
"Laser Pointer - Hand-held battery-operated articles that are designed or adapted to emit a laser beam with an accessible emission limit of greater than 1 mW"
Of interest, this definition would capture, in addition to standard laser pointers, laser collimators and a lot of laser-assisted tools, if they emit > 1mW.
See:
http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content...cument_id=3924
Plenty of discussion of this in earlier threads over the past few years - anyone interested can search them out and see all the pros/cons/State variation/import restrictions etc.