Police officers illegally strip-searched a woman at a Byron Bay music festival, the New South Wales supreme court has heard, subjecting her to a “degrading and humiliating” inspection that included being told to remove her tampon while undressed in front of a police officer.
NSW police admitted in court documents that its July 2018 strip-search of Raya Meredith – which discovered nothing illegal – was unlawful and unjustified, and ignored laws protecting her rights.
“It was a horrible thing to go through,” Meredith said, in emotional testimony before the court on Monday.
“It was humiliating, having to expose myself to a complete stranger,” she said.
Meredith accused the police force of “gaslighting” her by denying her version of events for years.
‘An extraordinary case, but not an isolated one’
Meredith is the lead plaintiff of more than 3,000 group members subjected to potentially unlawful strip-searches at music festivals by NSW police officers between 2016 and 2022. They are part of a class action, brought by Slater and Gordon Lawyers and the Redfern Legal Centre, against the state of NSW over allegedly unlawful strip-searches conducted by police, including of children.
The affected cohort could be more than twice as large.
Acting for the plaintiffs, Kylie Nomchong SC told the court Meredith was at Splendour in the Grass when a drug dog sniffed in her direction but then walked on. Meredith was stopped by police and had her bag taken away and searched out of her sight.
The court heard a female police officer told Meredith to remove her top in a makeshift tarpaulin cubicle, and to bend over and move her breasts so she could be examined.
Meredith was then told to remove her shorts and underwear, then instructed to turn around and bend over. The police officer inspected her vagina and anal area.
The court heard the officer asked her if she had “inserted anything”. Meredith said she had a tampon inserted, and she was instructed by the police officer to “pull it out and show it to her”. Meredith pulled gently at the tampon string, but did not remove it.
During the search, while Meredith was unclothed, a male police officer walked into the cubicle unannounced.
The search found no drugs, and nothing else illegal.
Documents before the court show that even after nothing was found, Meredith felt threatened by police, and asked if she could leave.
“Not yet,” an officer told her. “We have to take your details in case you get pulled aside for another search, which wouldn’t look good for you if that happened.”
Nomchong told the court the strip-search was “highly invasive and humiliating”, and that Meredith’s treatment by police was “akin to a sexual assault”.
“She was utterly shocked and degraded.”
Nomchong said Meredith’s circumstance, as lead plaintiff, was not unique, but demonstrative of systemic failures.
“This is an extraordinary case, but not an isolated one, it is at the serious end, but not the most serious.”
Read the full article published on the Guardian Website Monday May 5 2025.
