New data obtained by Redfern Legal Centre from NSW Police shows nearly 900 strip searches have taken place at train stations between 2016 and 2024.
A disproportionate number of these searches were conducted on First Nations people, who comprised 9% of the total (82 searches).
66 searches involved children aged 10 to 17 years.
Samantha Lee, supervising solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre, says the humiliating nature of strip searches at train stations is made worse due to the lack of privacy in such a public area.
“There is no privacy at a train station.
Sometimes police set up curtain-like structures on the platform, but common sense tells you this is incredibly inadequate.
Subjecting children to this invasive procedure in such a public space is appalling.”
Under Section 32 of the Law Enforcement Powers and Responsibilities Act 2002 (NSW), a police officer must conduct a strip search in a manner that “provides reasonable privacy for the person searched.”
Section 33 further requires that the search be conducted “as far as is reasonably practicable in the circumstances” in a “private area.”
Conducting strip searches at a train station may violate this law, as a train station is legally considered a “public place” and not a “private area”, Ms. Lee said.
Redfern Legal Centre is calling on the NSW government to take immediate action to reform strip search laws, which have become routinely applied by NSW Police, despite these powers being intended for exceptional circumstances only.
2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | Total | |
| Total number of strip searches at train stations | 144 | 130 | 113 | 130 | 93 | 80 | 99 | 94 | 883 |
| The total number of ATSI people being strip searched at a train station | 7 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 19 | 20 | 82 |
| The total number of children (10-17 years strip searched at a train station | 12 | 14 | 8 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 66 |
