NSW Woman Awarded $93K in Landmark Class Action Over Unlawful Festival Strip Search

A NSW Supreme Court ruling condemned the unlawful and humiliating strip search of Raya Meredith, a woman searched at the 2018 Splendour in the Grass festival, awarding her $93,000 in damages. The court found that police lacked reasonable grounds for the search, which was based solely on a drug detection dog's behavior, and that the search violated laws protecting privacy and bodily autonomy. Meredith was forced to remove all her clothing, including her tampon, in a makeshift cubicle lacking privacy, and a male officer entered without warning, causing significant distress. The judgment included $43,000 in compensation for assault, battery, and false imprisonment, $30,000 in aggravated damages for breaches of police policy, and an additional $20,000 for the government's delayed admission of wrongdoing. Justice Dina Yehia also indicated exemplary damages might be awarded due to systemic failures in police training regarding strip searches. This case is part of a class action involving over 3,000 individuals, with potential damages estimated at $150 million, reflecting widespread unlawful strip searches at NSW music festivals between 2016 and 2022.