Joey wanted a fun day out. She ended up being stripped naked and humiliated

Joey Orrock was a young woman figuring out how to be comfortable in her body when she was ushered into a makeshift tent at a music festival and ordered by police to strip naked.

She and three friends were making their way into the Secret Garden festival near Camden when their car was stopped and they were told they were suspected of carrying illicit drugs and would be strip-searched.

Joey Orrock was a young woman trying to figure out how to be comfortable in her body when she was strip-searched by police at a music festival.Credit: James Brickwood

Orrock, who was 23 at the time, was separated from her friends and taken into a small cubicle by a female police officer, who photographed Orrock’s licence before ordering her to remove her T-shirt, gym shorts, boots and socks, and then underwear.

“I was completely naked and all of my clothing she had thrown on the ground out of reach,” Orrock told the Herald of the 2019 incident.

“It was really scary.”

Orrock was told to lift her breasts so the officer could see underneath them, before being ordered to bend over while a torch was shone at her genitals. Once the search was over, Orrock was forced to redress in front of the officer. No drugs were found on her.

“I was young and not that comfortable being naked, let alone in front of a complete stranger,” Orrock said.

Orrock is one of thousands of festival goers who may be entitled to compensation from the state government as part of a class action over strip-searches conducted by NSW Police officers.

The class action, run by Redfern Legal Centre and Slater and Gordon Lawyers, and launched in 2022, is believed to be the biggest brought against NSW Police.

Group members allege they were illegally strip-searched without reasonable grounds and without their consent.

In a statement of claim, lead plaintiff Raya Meredith alleges she was forced to partially remove a tampon during a strip-search at Splendour in the Grass in 2018 to prove she had not inserted drugs into her body.

She alleges she was forced to bend over while naked, including in front of a male officer, who entered the search area while she was bent over. No drugs were found on her.

Thousands of people could be included in the class action, with anyone who attended a music festival in NSW between July 22, 2016 and July 22, 2022 and strip-searched because they were suspected of carrying illicit drugs, meeting the criteria to join.

Anyone who meets the criteria is automatically included in the action but can opt out. The case has been listed for a four-week trial in the NSW Supreme Court starting in May 2025.

Redfern Legal Centre senior police accountability solicitor, Samantha Lee, wants a ban on strip-searches conducted because police suspect an individual of minor drug possession, and said the lawsuit was a part of “momentum for change”.

Thousands of people strip searched at music festivals could be entitled to compensation from NSW Police.Credit: Paul Harris

“I’ve taken instructions from so many young people, both male and female, who have been strip-searched. Most of them are in tears when they’re describing what has happened to them and I’m appalled this practice is still being undertaken by NSW Police on children, young people and adults,” Lee said.

“The harm is long-lasting, traumatic. It is one of the most invasive, humiliating practices that police undertake, and we want this practice to stop.”

But NSW Police argues that suspecting an individual of minor drug possession meets the legal threshold for conducting a strip-search.

In the 2018-19 and 2019-20 financial years, NSW Police conducted 9116 in-the-field strip-searches, or searches outside of police custody.

The reduced number of strip-searches conducted since then has coincided with the cancellation of several major music festivals and months of COVID-19 restrictions in NSW.

In December 2020, a Law Enforcement Conduct Commission inquiry into NSW Police’s strip-search practices recommended they should not be considered unless an officer reasonably suspects a general search would not achieve its intended purpose.

The inquiry recommended it should be made clear that inspecting a person’s genitals cannot be a routine part of a strip-search and must be justified by police in each situation, and that reasons for strip-searching an individual at a music festival should be recorded on body-worn camera.

It also recommended it be made clear to officers that general intelligence regarding drug use at festivals wasn’t sufficient reason to strip-search someone.

Almost 7000 searches have been conducted since July 1, 2021 – the start of the financial year after the inquiry’s recommendations were published.

NSW Police declined to answer questions about what changes had been made to strip-search practices, but Commissioner Karen Webb told a parliamentary committee in August that “a whole raft of things” had been done since the inquiry.

Like others, Jessica Fatovic was put off music festivals after being strip-searched.

During the search at FOMO festival in 2017, she was ordered to remove her underwear, turn around, squat and cough.

“I was shaking. I was really scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I had just been violated by a stranger looking at my private parts, just when I wanted to go on a day out,” she said.

“It’s so invasive ... there was no reason for it ... and [the police officer] just went ‘OK, that’s fine, get dressed and go’.”

Seven years later, Fatovic’s relationship with police has not been repaired.

“Your parents teach you as a kid that the police ... are here to protect you,” Fatovic said.

“I didn’t know that they were going do something inappropriate, I didn’t know that they would violate [me].

“I still get paranoid and nervous when I see police with dogs.”

Like Fatovic, Orrock’s opinion of police changed after the search.

“It was intimidating. It was really shocking to be treated that way,” Orrock said.

“It definitely made me not really feel safe around police. I definitely would not go to a cop for help now at all.”

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