In opening submissions, Kylie Nomchong SC said lead plaintiff Raya Meredith was asked to “strip, expose all parts of her body, drop her breasts, bend over and expose her anus and vagina” to an officer.

Nomchong said this was “akin to things that would happen during a sexual assault” and asked that the court award Meredith a “significant” sum so the state of NSW would feel the “sting” of the wrongdoing.

The court was told that Meredith was not asked for consent, had been questioned during the search, and was threatened to be thrown out of the 2018 Splendour in the Grass festival if she did not comply.

At one stage during the examination, a male officer walked into the cubicle unannounced and saw Meredith in a “humiliating position”.

Meredith returned to the festival “utterly shocked and degraded”. No drugs were discovered during the examination.

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“This is an extraordinary story, but not an isolated one. It is a claim at the most serious end of the scale, but not the most serious,” Nomchong said.

The state of NSW admitted there was “no lawful justification” for Meredith’s search and conceded her version of events was correct.

However, the admission was made two and a half years after the proceedings were lodged, and Nomchong said Meredith was entitled to damages for having this “hanging over her head”.

Despite the admission, Nomchong said there would still need to be factual findings made, including whether the search occurred in a private area, if Meredith was asked to remove more clothes than reasonably necessary, and whether directions that she move her own body parts were just as unlawful as if the officer had done so.

For general damages for battery, assault and false imprisonment, Nomchong said Meredith was entitled to $50,000.

A further $30,000 should be awarded for aggravated damages because the case satisfies the common law test of amounting to special humiliation suffered by the plaintiff, which Nomchong said was “akin to things that would happen during a sexual assault”.

Exemplary damages, to punish the state for overriding the plaintiff’s legislative rights, was assessed around $30,000.