RLC in the media

New figures released by the Redfern Legal Centre (RLC) via freedom of information laws revealed that in the past year, NSW Police have continued to strip search dozens of children. This is despite public demands to cease and desist, and three official inquiries in late 2019 condemning the practice. Alec Smart reports for Sydney Sentinel.

In the past year, NSW police officers have strip-searched 96 children and more than 20 percent of them were Indigenous.

Despite everything else this year has thrown at us, it seems the controversial strip-searching of children by New South Wales’ police continues unabated. As The Guardian’s Michael McGowan has noted, 96 have been searched in 2020, with some as young as eleven.

Community groups are mounting a combined push for more social and affordable housing for Aboriginal people in inner Sydney, as a wave of development and rise in property prices scatter the area's once-thriving population. Megan Gorrey reports for the Sydney Morning Herald

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people represented 12% of police strip searches in NSW in two years despite comprising just over 3% of the population. Michael McGowan reports for Guardian Australia

An indigenous teenager who had his legs kicked out from underneath him while he was arrested was 'distraught' following the ordeal. Brittany Chain reports for Daily Mail Australia

The sister of an Aboriginal teenager who had his legs kicked out from beneath him while being arrested says children shouldn't be mistreated because they're being "lippy". The Illawara Mercury reports (AAP)

Ongoing public scrutiny is shedding much needed light on the highly invasive policing practice of strip-searching. But an important issue is being lost in the current debate – race. Samantha Lee in The Sydney Morning Herald

Did you know that the Redfern Legal Centre operates out of RPA hospital two days a week? This is the first hospital-based health/justice partnership in NSW and has proven popular among patients and staff.

More than half the people on a secretive New South Wales police blacklist are Aboriginal, the state’s top law enforcement officer has revealed. Michael McGowan reports for The Guardian, 11 November 2017.​