NSW Police face stripsearch lawsuit from Splendour in the Grass attendees

A woman who was twice stripsearched at a popular music festival says she was made to feel like a criminal as a class action is being launched against police.

People who were allegedly unlawfully stripsearched at the Splendour in the Grass music festival could be entitled to thousands of dollars in compensation.

Lawyers believe hundreds of young people, including teenagers, were unlawfully stripsearched at the annual event between 2016 and 2019 and are calling for them to join a class action to sue NSW Police.

Redfern Legal Centre (RLC) and Slater and Gordon, who are launching the case, allege festivalgoers were told to lift or remove items of clothing, strip naked and squat and cough or lift their genitals so officers could visually inspect body cavities.

RLC principal solicitor Alexis Goodstone said the “groundbreaking” class action would seek redress for 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,” she said.

Ruby, who asked not to have her real name published, says she will participate in the class action after she was stripsearched twice at the festival in 2017 when she was 23.

“The way I was treated by police was disgusting. The police presumed I was guilty, and I was treated like a criminal without any justification,” she claimed.

Ruby is a diabetic and said she was carrying an insulin pump at the festival when a drug detection dog stopped near her. She was subsequently told to strip naked and searched by police.

She said the experience was “traumatising” and that “no one should be treated like this”.

“I want to be involved in this case to speak up for myself and for others because this should not be allowed to happen,” she said.

Police in NSW are permitted to carry out stripsearches in the field – meaning those outside of police custody – only if the seriousness and urgency of the situation requires it.

A police sniffer dog on duty at Splendour in the Grass in 2019. Picture: AAP Image/Regi Varghese

When the person being searched is a minor, police are required to have a parent, guardian or support person present, unless it’s necessary for the safety of the person or to prevent evidence being destroyed.

In a landmark two-year investigation into stripsearching, the NSW Police watchdog found a recurring issue was the failure of officers to comply, or at least to properly account for their compliance, with the legal thresholds for conducting a stripsearch.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission's report, handed down in December 2020, said there were “some areas of ambiguity” about the extent of police stripsearch powers and the meaning of “seriousness and urgency”.

In one case investigated by the LECC, it found police had unlawfully stripsearched a 16-year-old girl at Splendour in the Grass in 2018.

The girl told her lawyer she felt “completely humiliated” during the search, where she was asked to strip naked without having a parent or guardian present.

Splendour in the Grass co-founder Jessica Ducrou said on Tuesday that organisers had “no insight into NSW Police search processes at our festivals”.

“We do not support drug dog operations as a method to manage a broader societal challenge that extends well beyond the context of a music festival,” she said.

A NSW Police spokeswoman said the force was aware of media reports from 18 months ago that a class action was planned but so far no such case had been filed with the courts.

“The test on whether a search was conducted lawfully is ultimately a matter for the court. Police are required to suspect on reasonable grounds that the circumstances are serious and urgent when determining whether a stripsearch is necessary,” she said.

“When making that determination, police will consider all of the available information, including the risk of someone overdosing or dying.”

She said the LECC had acknowledged the “significant improvements” made by the force in the education, training and guidance to police in carrying out searches.

“NSW Police has responded to LECC regarding adoption of the recommendations from the investigation,” she said.

“It is a matter for LECC to make public the conclusions of their report and NSW Police’s response to the recommendations.”

Splendour in the Grass is an all ages event held in Yelgun in northern NSW and one of Australia’s largest music festivals.