Slater and Gordon invite 100,000 music lovers to join NSW police strip search class action
Aussie festivalgoers have been invited to join forces in seeking legal action against NSW police over alleged unlawful strip searches. See if you’re eligible.
NSW
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More than 100,000 music lovers who attended festivals in NSW over six years will receive notices to potentially join a class action against police over allegedly unlawful strip searches.
Slater and Gordon launched their action in 2022 and a four-week trial is scheduled to begin in the NSW Supreme Court on May 5 next year.
The group proceeding alleges that police carried out unlawful acts including assault, battery and false imprisonment when searching them at the music festivals for illicit substances.
Slater and Gordon Class Actions Associate Jordyn Keating said the NSW Supreme Court had ordered that notices be sent to music fans who had bought tickets to festivals staged across NSW between 2016 and 2022.
The notice informs people who may want to join the class action about how they can register their interest if they were affected by the strip searches or opt out of the claim.
The Slater and Gordon website also advises festivalgoers of their legal rights relating to strip searches at events held over the six-year period.
“To date, court approved notices have been distributed to more than 100,000 people who purchased tickets for music festivals in NSW during the relevant period,” she said.
“This is a standard step in the class action process as we work towards the May 2025 trial date.”
Samantha Lee, police accountability solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre, said: “this action has the potential to hold NSW Police accountable and offer legal recourse, providing justice to hundreds of individuals who have endured invasive, often traumatic, and unlawful strip searches.”
A review undertaken by the NSW Police Force and the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission reported last September there had been improvements in training for police attending music festivals, but gaps in the course rollout.
The review, which examined a sample of strip search records from 2021 to 2022, found less than half of the officers who carried out the invasive examinations at the music festivals studied had completed the specialist training.
The report also found that officers performing searches at the festivals had not used a “music festivals field processing form” designed to help police comply with person searching law and policy.
Originally published as Slater and Gordon invite 100,000 music lovers to join NSW police strip search class action
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