First Nations people in New South Wales are subject to 45 per cent of all "uses of force" by NSW police despite making up only 3.44 per cent of the population, a new accountability dashboard has revealed.
The Police Accountability Dashboard by Redfern Legal Centre (RLC) released on Wednesday, also revealed First Nations children are strip-searched at a younger age and at a greater rate between the ages of 11 and 15 compared to non-First Nations children.
Two of the Aboriginal children strip-searched by NSW police were just 11 years old.
For the first time, the public can view data obtained from the police under NSW's information access laws detailing strip-searches, the use of force, and the issuing of move on directions between 2017 and 2023.
The RLC said the dashboard was the first of its kind in Australia, with supervising solicitor Samantha Lee saying it was "another step towards ensuring the use of police powers is more transparent".
"It offers extensive data obtained from NSW Police through freedom of information laws," Ms Lee said. "It analyses the use of police powers and serves as a resource for the public, lawyers, policymakers, and academics to understand how these powers are used."
Under NSW law, a 'strip-search' means the search of a person or of articles in the possession of a person that may include requiring the person to remove all of his or her clothes; and an examination of the person's body (but not of the person's body cavities) and of those clothes.
The data reveals of the 1532 children aged between 11 and 17 strip-searched by police between 2017 and 2023, 689 (45 per cent) were First Nations.
"Increased transparency around police powers leads to greater accountability in their use. The statistics tell a compelling story, highlighting the disproportionate use of police powers against First Nations people," Ms Lee said.
For people of all ages subject to strip-search by NSW police, 25.5 per cent were First Nations, with the numbers trending upwards after decreasing during the pandemic.
Ms Lee told Guardian Australia: "There's no doubt in my mind, through the work I do and through the statistics, that First Nations people are disproportionately over-policed compared to non-First Nations people."
First Nations people were strip-searched more widely across regional NSW compared to non-Indigenous people, who were mainly searched in the Sydney region, as well as coastal areas.
Taree and Dubbo in regional NSW, and Surrey Hills in Sydney, recorded the highest number of strip-searches on First Nations people, whilst in the towns of Bourke, Coonamble, and West Kempsey, over 70 per cent of people strip-searched were First Nations people, the RLC dashboard revealed.
NSW Police told National Indigenous Times: "A strip search will only be conducted if at a police station the searching officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the strip search is necessary for the purposes of the search, or in any other place if the officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the strip search is necessary for the purposes of the search and that the seriousness and urgency of the circumstances make the strip search necessary at that place."
NSW Police did not respond to questions about the appropriateness of strip-searching children as young as 11, or if the disproportionate numbers of First Nations children searched was a concern for the organisation in regards in their commitment to closing the gap
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission found in a recent audit only 30 per cent of strip-search records documented the "seriousness and urgency" threshold that NSW police officers are required to meet in order to justify strip-searching under the law.
The RLC dashboard found that in 61.6 per cent of cases where data was available, nothing was found on the person strip searched.
First Nations people were also subject to 45 per cent of all the 'use of force' conducted by NSW Police between 2017 and 2023, despite making up only 3.4 per cent of the population.
The proportion of First Nations people subjected to 'use of force' has consistently increased between 2017 and 2023. In 2023, just over half of all people subjected to 'use of force' by NSW police were First Nations.
Children under 18 represented 11.4 per cent of people subjected to 'use of force'—57.2 per cent of whom were First Nations children. The numbers of 'use of force' against First Nations children over time has slightly risen since 2020.
Data showed arm restraint/wrist locks, ground wrestles and take downs were the most common types of 'use of force' overall.
Last year, Senior Constable Barlow was sentenced to an 18-month community correction order with supervision and required to undertake 125 hours of community service work after being found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm of an Aboriginal teenager in 2020.
He remains employed by NSW police as he appeals his sentence.
National Indigenous Times understands some of the plaintiffs who have joined the class actions are First Nations people.
Despite attempts by the NSW government to have the motion thrown out due to insufficient common issues between all the people who were subjected to strip searches, it is scheduled to take place next year.
