Judge in strip search class action awards woman $93,000 after she was illegally searched by NSW police

A woman who was illegally strip-searched by NSW police has been awarded $93,000 in a landmark class action alleging that the vast majority of strip searches conducted between 2018 and 2022 at music festivals were unlawful.

Justice Dina Yehia handed down her findings in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday in a class action brought by Slater and Gordon Lawyers and the Redfern Legal Centre against the state of NSW. The case focused on allegedly unlawful strip searches conducted by police at music festivals, including strip searches of children.

The lead plaintiff, Raya Meredith, was awarded $93,000 in damages, which included $43,000 in compensation and $50,000 in aggravated damages. Three thousand people have signed on to the class action, but the affected cohort could be twice as large.

Days before the class action hearing began, police admitted in court documents that the strip search of Raya Meredith was unlawful and unjustified, ignoring laws protecting her rights. Subsequently, the state withdrew 22 witnesses—mostly police officers—who were scheduled to contest the lead plaintiff’s version of events during the May hearing.

Meredith was at Splendour in the Grass in 2018 when a drug detection dog sniffed in her direction but then walked on. The 27-year-old, who was postpartum at the time, was taken into a makeshift tarpaulin tent. There, a female police officer instructed her to undress completely, bend over and expose her bottom, lower her breasts, and remove her tampon. At one point, a male officer entered the tent unannounced.

The search found no drugs or anything else illegal.

More details to come.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/30/strip-search-class-action-raya-meredith-searches-nsw-police-update-music-festival