Following a major win for the lead plaintiff, the lawyers behind a strip-search class action have urged the state of NSW to enter settlement negotiations and compensate thousands of other potential victims.
Justice Dina Yehia has awarded $93,000 in damages to Raya Meredith, the lead plaintiff in a landmark class action brought by Slater & Gordon and the Redfern Legal Centre.
Exemplary damages will be assessed and determined at a later date.
In addition to subjecting Meredith to an unlawful strip search by police at the 2018 Splendour in the Grass music festival, Justice Yehia found police failed to comply with the requirements under the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (LEPRA).
In the days before the class action was due to commence, police admitted Meredith’s strip search was unlawful and unjustified.
“Ultimately, I have concluded that the conduct of searching police not only constituted an unlawful strip search of the plaintiff, but amounted to a gross failure to comply with the requirements and safeguards of LEPRA,” Justice Yehia read in a summary on Tuesday, 30 September.
“These failures to lawfully exercise the relevant powers were a product of a conspicuous deficiency in the training, education and monitoring of police officers in the exercise of their powers to conduct a strip search, resulting in a flagrant disregard of the rights of the plaintiff.”
In a statement to media, Meredith said it has been a “harrowing and traumatising” experience, but she was “incredibly proud of myself and my bravery, and the bravery of those whose voices back my own”.
Meredith was taken into an area set up for strip searches and subjected to a humiliating and degrading search by a female police officer, including being directed to remove her tampon while she watched.
At one point, while Meredith was in a state of undress, a male officer walked in without announcing himself first.
While a drug detection dog indicated Meredith, no drugs were found.
A written account by a police officer on the day that claimed Meredith said she “had a smoke with a joint this morning” was found to be false. However, Justice Yehia did not find that the officer deliberately lied.
“I sincerely hope that this case brings an end to the practice of unlawful strip searches and in the future police powers are only used in the circumstances intended by Parliament,” Meredith said.
William Zerno, senior associate in Slater & Gordon’s class actions team, said the implications of Justice Yehia’s findings would “likely render thousands of police strip searches” at festivals to be unlawful.
The parties said they would confer about proposed directions for the remainder of the representative proceedings by 31 October.
Zerno said the evidence led in Meredith’s proceedings indicated NSW Police undertook the searches “on an industrial level” and with little to no regard to the legislative safeguards under LEPRA.
“Slater & Gordon is urging the state to bring this shameful chapter to a close by negotiating a settlement for the remainder of the group.
“If a sensible settlement cannot be achieved, the costs to the state will be far higher,” Zerno said.
Samantha Lee, supervising solicitor within the police accountability team at Redfern Legal Centre, said the case sent a clear message to police to keep their “hands off young people and children’s bodies”.
“You can no longer ask a young person to take off all their clothes, stand naked in front of strangers with firearms and make them squat and cough on the suspicion of minor drug possession.
“This action does not right the wrongs. This action does not remove trauma. This action does not restore the dignity that was taken from young people.
“What this decision does is provide a path to monetary compensation and a sense of justice to thousands of young people, children and adults who were unlawfully strip-searched,” Lee said.
Anyone who was subjected to a strip search by NSW Police at a music festival between 22 July 2016 and 21 July 2022 is still able to register their interest with Slater & Gordon.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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