End Strip Searching of Children
All children must be treated with dignity.
Children should never be strip searched
But right now, across the country, children are still regularly subjected to violent and degrading strip searches by police and prison authorities. For children who have already experienced violence, sexual abuse or trauma, this invasive practice can be profoundly retraumatising.
That's why I have introduced a Bill to Parliament to outlaw it.
The Crimes Amendment (Prohibiting the Strip Searching of Children) Bill 2026 would ban strip searches of anyone under 18 under any circumstances.
Children must be protected from trauma and abuse, including when they are in custody.
The open letter:
Dear Attorney-General Michelle Rowland,
Children deserve safety and dignity no matter where they are or if they are in custody. Yet across the country, children are routinely subjected to strip searches.
Strip searches cause fear, humiliation and trauma. For children who have already experienced sexual assault or abuse, being strip searched can be profoundly retraumatising.
Victim-survivors describe this practice as state-perpetrated sexual assault. We do not need this degrading practice.
Evidence shows that strip searches detect contraband at exceedingly low rates and that, even when they do, items found are almost never weapons or drugs. Studies have also shown that reducing strip searching does not lead to an influx of contraband, weapons or drugs into custodial settings.
Strip searching is extremely traumatising for children, and trauma in children leads to a higher rate of social and emotional problems later in life. Trauma affects children’s brain development, and can affect their long-term identity formation and wellbeing. For children who are already traumatised – as a disproportionate number in custodial settings are – strip searching can be retraumatising, particularly for survivors of sexual assault. Children from vulnerable groups and groups that face discrimination, such as children with disability (including physical, cognitive and mental disability) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, are also at increased risk of harm from strip searching.
Attorney-General, your government has the power and duty to end this harmful practice. The High Court has confirmed that external affairs power under the Constitution allows the Commonwealth to implement human rights obligations in areas that would otherwise primarily be matters for the states and territories. The Commonwealth has used this power in the past to legislate on matters that are otherwise regulated by the states, including human rights and discrimination.
It’s time for this government to end the harmful and degrading practice of strip searching children. Children deserve safety and dignity. They must be cared for and protected.
Senator Lidia Thorpe has introduced a bill to Parliament that would ban the strip searching of children. This is your opportunity to show that you care about all children in this country and take action to protect them from harm and abuse at the hands of the state.
We, undersigned, urge you to support this important Bill to end strip searches of children.
Add your voice
Children should not be strip searched. Everyone in this country should have their basic human rights respected. The Albanese government must ensure our kids are protected from these abusive practices, both in and out of custodial settings.
Albanese has the power to act. Now we will see whether he has the decency and the guts.
Sign the open letter calling on the Albanese Government to ban the strip searching of children.
Make a submission to the inquiry about this Bill.
The Senate is holding an inquiry into this Bill, and your voice can help make the case for change.
Anyone can make a submission. You can share your experiences, concerns or reasons for supporting the Bill, and this will inform the report that will be delivered to the Albanese government.
This inquiry is an opportunity for truth-telling. Your story is valuable in ensuring the truth is heard.
It is also possible to make a confidential or anonymous submission.
GET ASSISTANCE MAKING A SUBMISSION
Submissions close: 14 September 2026.
Why is strip searching so harmful?
Strip searching causes fear, shame, humiliation and trauma. It is profoundly harmful for children who have already experienced sexual assault, violence or abuse.
But police and authorities still have powers to subject children to this abuse. If anyone else forcibly stripped a child, we would call it for what it is: child sexual abuse.
Aboriginal children are disproportionately represented in custody and are disproportionately targeted with these practices.
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the Bringing Them Home report both made recommendations aimed at protecting Aboriginal children and people in custody. These recommendations have never been fully implemented.
Do we need strip searching?
No! The evidence shows strip searching does not improve anyone’s safety.
In WA, the Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services found that of around 900,000 strip searches detected contraband in only 0.28% of cases, with almost none involving dangerous items such as drugs or weapons.
In NSW, available data shows 127 strip searches of children at two youth prisons, with just three searches identifying items.
Evidence from other custodial settings has also found that reducing strip searching does not lead to an influx of drugs, weapons or other contraband.
The evidence shows this abusive practice is pointless. It does not achieve what authorities claim it does, and it causes immense harm.
Isn’t this a state and territory issue?
No – the federal government has the power and responsibility to act.
The Constitution gives the Commonwealth the power to make laws implementing this country's international treaty obligations through the ‘external affairs power’.
The High Court has confirmed that this allows the Commonwealth to implement human rights obligations in areas that would otherwise primarily be matters for the states and territories. The Commonwealth has already used this power to legislate on things that are otherwise regulated by the states, including human rights and discrimination.
The federal Crimes Act already contains Commonwealth measures regulating strip searches. These provisions can be strengthened to apply across the country. This is what my Bill would do.
The Albanese government has the power to ban strip searching of children. It is only a question of whether they have the political will.