A new report has outlined an alarming tendency by New South Wales police to strip search children, with Indigenous kids as young as 11 being subjected to the procedure over the past seven years.

Redfern Legal Centre (RLC) obtained data from NSW Police via freedom of information laws, leading to a new report - 'The Need for Reform: Strip Searches of Children by NSW Police' - revealing more than 1500 children aged 10-17 were strip searched between June 2016 and July 2023 in NSW.

Despite making up less than seven per cent of the children aged 10-17, nearly half of all children strip-searched were Indigenous.

Data showed First Nations children were being strip searched at a younger age than non-Indigenous children, despite the likelihood of finding items reducing the younger the child is.

Two of the strip searched children were 11-year-old Aboriginal boys.

There were also 189 First Nations female children strip searched in the time period, thirteen of them 13-years-old or younger.

Legal experts have said the effects of strip-searches are long-lasting, and often includes trauma and shame, as well exacerbating a fear of the police. The report's authors said the practice has become "routine" in NSW, and often doesn't meet the required legal thresholds.

RLC police accountability solicitor Sam Lee said NSW police had strip-searched the equivalent of 51 classes of school children.

"This report underscores the urgent need for systemic legislative change to reform police practices, particularly in the treatment of children and First Nations communities," she said.

Ms Lee said the practice needed to be paused by the NSW government until they ensured the rights of the child were protected.

"Strip-searches constitute an invasive, humiliating, and harmful process and should only be used in exceptional circumstances when no other alternative exists," Ms Lee said.

"Subjecting children to strip-searches is harmful. The law must change to protect children."

The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) chief executive Karly Warner has previously described the practice as "deeply intrusive" and "humiliating."

Ms Warner told Guardian Australia 2020: "The excessive use of strip-searching is causing extreme emotional and psychological harm…An unclothed and traumatic early encounter with police is something that children will have to deal with long after they're allowed to put their clothes back on."

(Image: Steven Siewert)

NSW Premier Chris Minns last year endeavoured to review the policies underpinning the practice of strip-searching children, however the most recent statistics for the 2023/23 financial year show an increase of more than 50 per cent in the strip-searches of girls.

Three Indigenous 12-year-old girls were strip-searched in 2023 alone.

Last year, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) found less than half of the officers who carried out strip searches at music festivals had completed the relevant specialist training, despite it being available.

The report also highlighted 426 strip-searches of First Nations children that took place in police custody, more than half of all children searched in custody. 15 of these children were 13 years old or younger. National Indigenous Times has previously reported on NSW police violating an Indigenous teen's right to silence during an investigation.

Police Minister Yasmin Catley told National Indigenous Times some of the data was concerning and she shared some of those concerns. She said she had been meeting with stakeholders over the past months on the matter, in an attempt to "balance community expectations with community safety."

"As I've previously stated, the very role of a Minister is to consider the current policy settings, whether they're fit for purpose and how they affect the people of NSW," Minister Catley said. "That's exactly what's being done in this instance."

"The NSW Police Force take their powers extremely seriously and must only carry out a strip search if they reasonably suspect that is it necessary for the purpose of the search, and that the seriousness and urgency of the circumstances make a strip search necessary."

The report comes as the NSW government has attempted to crack down on youth crime by enacting a series of harsh bail laws - described as "a devastating betrayal of Aboriginal children in NSW," by Ms Warner - and has refused to lift the age of criminal responsibility, despite evidence showing imprisoning 10 and 11 year-olds causes long-term psychological damage.

The NSW police have also been heavily criticised in recent times for a disproportionate number of incidents against First Nations people.

These include an officer convicted of assaulting an Indigenous teenager, as well as the police commissioner arguing Closing the Gap targets would lead to "competing duties".

Premier Minns has previously been criticised for refusing to blame the NSW police for the disproportionate Indigenous incarceration numbers, despite the LECC regularly noting the lack of cooperation NSW police provided them during internal police investigations and data revealing NSW police use force against Indigenous Australians at drastically disproportionate levels.

National Indigenous Times has contacted NSW Police for comment.