Lauren Croft reports for Lawyers Weekly.
Hundreds of Splendour in the Grass patrons who attended the Byron Bay music festival in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 are believed to have been wrongfully searched by NSW Police, a new class action has alleged.
The class action, currently being investigated by Redfern Legal Centre and Slater and Gordon Lawyers, could mean that those affected could win tens of thousands of dollars in compensation each in court.
Redfern Legal Centre’s principal solicitor Alexis Goodstone said unlawful searches by NSW Police were a systemic problem that urgently needed to be addressed.
“A class action is a legal means for a group of people to come together to call out an unlawful and damaging practice in a way that is easy to participate in because it is largely anonymous and risk-free,” she said.
“This ground-breaking class action will seek redress for the many people subjected to invasive and traumatic searches. We also hope this test case will pave the way for a series of cases focusing on other locations or music festivals, and importantly, help stop unlawful police searches in NSW.”
Read the full article here. (Lawyers Weekly, 17 November 2021)
