The Redfern Legal Centre is investigating a potential class-action on behalf of people who have been unlawfully strip searched in the last six years.
The data shows 13 per cent of strip searches are undertaken on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, a demographic that makes up only 3 percent of the state's population.
Redfern Legal Centre’s Police Accountability Practice solicitor Samantha Lee told NITV News that Indigenous Australians have endured the brunt of an extremely high rate of strip searches for too long.
“Police have failed and continue to fail when a strip search occurs. Police are targeting vulnerable people, and it is very unjust,” said Ms Lee.
The highest number of strip searches conducted on Indigenous people between 2018 and 2020 were in the regional towns and cities of Dubbo (66), Taree (43), Moree (32) and Orange (23), which collectively recorded 164 searches.
Ms Lee believes the figures could be much higher due to what she described as "consistent lack of reporting by police".
Other areas that recorded high numbers of strip searches of Indigenous people were Aldavilla, Bathurst, Bourke, and Wellington.
The inner-city suburb of Surry Hills also recorded a high number, with 37 searches over the same period.
“I surmise that the fact that this is happening more in regional communities is because police area commands have developed their own cultures which target Aboriginal people and racially profile when it comes to strip searching,” Ms Lee said.
Read the full article here (NITV, 17 September 2020)
