During the past two years, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people strip-searched increased from 9% to 13%, despite the group only making up 3.4% of the New South Wales population. Samantha Lee, a lawyer from the Redfern Legal Centre, has previously denounced strip-searching as “harmful”.
In response, NSW Police said policy and training changes had been made, and between 2019 and 2020 officers conducted 30% fewer strip-searches compared to the previous year. "The NSW Police Force awaits the final report of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission's (LECC) review into strip-searches undertaken by police," a spokesperson said…"we understand the importance of this review and will take a considered approach when the findings are tabled in Parliament later this year."
Read the full story here (ABC News, 3 November 2020)
