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The NSW Police Force planned to conduct strip searches but never turned their mind to whether the examinations fell within the bounds of statutory safeguards and if the officers were properly trained and supervised, lawyers for a class action have argued in closing submissions.
In circumstances where police attended the 2018 Splendour in the Grass festival, deployed drug detection dogs, and set up the infrastructure for strip searches, it was an “egregious” failure to have not ensured the officers were properly trained and supervised, the NSW Supreme Court was told on Tuesday, 13 May.
The strip-search class action against the state of NSW, filed by Slater & Gordon and the Redfern Legal Centre, alleged NSW Police carried out thousands of unlawful strip searches as a matter of routine at music festivals between July 2016 and 2022.
Lead plaintiff Raya Meredith was subjected to an examination at the Splendour in the Grass festival that was “akin to things that would happen during a sexual assault”, the court was told last week. The state admitted there was “no lawful justification” for this search.
In closing submissions, Kylie Nomchong SC said there “was absolutely an expectation” that police officers were going to conduct strip searches when they attended Splendour in the Grass.
With this in mind, Nomchong said it should have been “at the forefront of their minds” that the officers would need to be trained and supervised to ensure they fell within the statutory safeguards under the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002.
In addition to only conducting a search if an officer holds a reasonable belief the person may be harbouring drugs, the person being searched must be taken to a private area, it must be done as quickly as possible, and by an officer of the same sex.
In the case of Meredith and a number of other alleged victims, Nomchong claimed the searches were a “clear transgression of the basic human right to dignity and privacy”.
Nomchong also criticised the state of NSW for not calling witnesses to give evidence as to the training, instructions or briefings provided to officers either before or during the festivals in question.
This was a “critical failure” on the defendant’s part, Nomchong said.
“This is a telling omission, and we say whatever evidence could have been given about directions and briefings on the ground, supervision of strip searches, the way in which police officers were directed at Splendour in the Grass 2018, about how strip searches should have been carried out lawfully, would not have assisted the defendant,” she said.
The closing submissions continue on Wednesday.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
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