Release stripsearch data, says Amnesty

AMNESTY International has called on the Tasmanian Government to release figures on the stripsearching of minors after the Justice Department said data on the practice was “not available”.

Tasmania Police is holding an internal investigation into the conduct of an off-duty officer who allegedly fake arrested and detained an 11-year-old boy in January.

The child was stripsearched before being locked in a cell at the Hobart Remand Centre for about 20 minutes.

Human rights groups and the state’s Children’s Commissioner have since raised concerns about the stripsearching of minors. The practice is the subject of an ongoing review by the Justice Department.

Asked yesterday how often contraband is found on minors following a stripsearch, a Justice Department spokesman said: “The information requested is not available.”

Amnesty International Indigenous rights adviser Rodney Dillon said the Tasmanian Government had an obligation to release data on the stripsearching of children.

“According to a 2016 independent report into youth justice in Queensland, ‘contraband’ such as drugs were only discovered 34 times in 1217 searches over a ninemonth period,” Mr Dillon said.

Prisoners Legal Service chairman Greg Barns said stripsearching children was akin to assault. “It’s extraordinary they allow stripsearching to take place in the first place, then to have no proper record of the stripsearching is unconscionable,” Mr Barns said.