Senator Lidia Thorpe has introduced bills to Federal Parliament to end two harmful practices in criminal legal systems across Australia: the strip searching of children and the shackling of people during childbirth.

The Crimes Amendment (Prohibiting the Strip Searching of Children) Bill 2026 would prohibit strip searches of anyone under the age of 18.

The Crimes Amendment (Prohibiting Shackling During Childbirth) Bill 2026 would prohibit the use of restraints on people during labour and childbirth.

The bills will proceed to committee inquiry, where senators will hear expert evidence on the measures.

Senator Thorpe, a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung independent senator representing Victoria, said both practices were unnecessary, harmful and inconsistent with Australia's international human rights obligations.

"Strip searching of children must end. For children who have already experienced violence, sexual abuse or trauma, being forced to strip in front of people in positions of authority can be profoundly retraumatising, and data on the practice demonstrates it is totally unjustified," she said.

"In Western Australian prisons, around 900,000 strip searches were conducted between 2014 and 2019. Contraband was detected in just 0.28 per cent of searches, and dangerous items such as drugs or weapons were almost never found."

"In NSW, 127 strip searches were conducted on children at two youth prisons in the period examined by available data. Just three searches identified any items."

In June it was revealed more than half of the people strip searched by WA Police in 2025-26 were Indigenous.

In September 2024, data showed 45 per cent of the 1,532 children aged from 11 to 17 strip-searched by NSW Police between 2017 and 2023 were First Nations.

Senator Thorpe said children are being subjected to "an invasive and profoundly humiliating practice" that "fails to detect the things it is supposedly intended to find".

"It's time for this cruel and degrading practice to end," she said.

The senator described shackling of women during childbirth as "incredibly degrading and dangerous".

"There is no evidence that shackling someone during childbirth prevents escape or reduces risk. There are no reports of an unrestrained person attempting to escape during childbirth, because people giving birth are not trying to run away," she said.

"What shackling does is put the health and safety of the parent and baby at risk. People in labour need to be able to move and change position. Restraints can interfere with medical care and delay emergency procedures. If an emergency caesarean is required, even a short delay can have devastating consequences for a baby.

"State and territory policies have not been enough to end this practice. Policies with exemptions are not enough. We need a clear prohibition in law."

Senator Thorpe noted that while the federal government would likely argue justice systems and police practices are matters for state and territory governments, the Commonwealth does have the power to legislate national minimum standards and to give effect in law to the human rights agreements Australia has ratified.

"NATSILS [National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services] was in Parliament this week calling for those national minimum standards because we have a criminal legal system where basic rights can depend on which state or territory you are in," she said.

"These bills address just two of the standards that urgently need to change.

"The Albanese Government says it supports human rights and has signed up to international agreements protecting the rights of children and people in custody. My bills will put that commitment to the test.

"Albanese has the power to act. Now we will see whether he has the decency and political will."

National Indigenous Times has contacted the federal Attorney General for comment.