Revealed: LGAs where police strip-searches occur most often

Almost half of strip-searches conducted by NSW police are in western Sydney as a coalition of justice and health organisations urges the state government to outlaw such searches of young people due to their traumatic impact.

Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data analysed by the Herald showed an asymmetry in where strip-searches take place across Sydney.

Police Minister Yasmin Catley has been under pressure to prohibit officers from strip-searching children.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Of the 1622 strip-searches conducted in NSW in 2023-24, 776 were in Sydney’s west. There were 56 searches on the north shore, representing 3 per cent of the total.

Police carried out 368 strip-searches in the City of Parramatta, 92 in Cumberland, 74 in Liverpool, and 72 in Fairfield council areas.

The City of Sydney had the most strip-searches, with 377 in the year to June.

Thirteen months after Police Minister Yasmin Catley commissioned a review into the controversial policing tactic of strip-searching children, her office is still mulling possible reforms.

But with the government’s four-day drug summit at its halfway point, Premier Chris Minns has come under pressure to use the forum to prohibit police strip-searches of young people aged 10 to 17 when it resumes for hearings in Sydney on December 4.

An open letter signed by 18 organisations – including Redfern Legal Centre, Uniting Church, and the NSW Council for Civil Liberties – noted more than 1500 children had been subjected to invasive searches since 2016, an average of 220 per year, and called on Minns to outlaw the practice.

“The humiliating and harmful experience can lead to lasting trauma. It creates distrust between young people and the police and discourages them from seeking help when needed,” the open letter stated.

“That’s why we’re calling on you to ensure the upcoming drug summit considers a ban on this harmful practice.”

The Herald revealed in October that NSW Police had continued strip-searching children at similar rates despite Catley’s announcing an ongoing review into the matter in 2023. Speaking last month, the minister insisted police had made “improvements” to strip-searching processes.

Ninety per cent of all children strip-searched in the eight years to 2024 were aged between 15 and 17, according to data obtained under freedom of information laws by Redfern Legal Centre. Seventeen-year-olds alone were almost half of the searches. Children aged 11 to 14 accounted for 10 per cent of the total.

Although the number of strip-searches on children has dropped from 174 in 2018-19, there were still 51 searches conducted in 2023-24.

The Herald reported in October 2023 that at least 115 children aged 12 to 17 were strip-searched in the two years to June 2023, triggering the Minns government’s review.

Catley said she was still considering the views of experts and advocates almost a year after consultation began.

“[NSW Police] have advised me they’ve implemented significant operational changes recommended by the Law Enforcement Conduction Commission and the Coroner’s Court in relation to strip-searches,” she said.

“There are safeguards built into legislation that police must comply with when conducting strip-searches to preserve a person’s privacy and dignity.”

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