Customs Act 1901

If a person is detained under section 219L, an officer of Customs may:

carry out a frisk search of the person to determine whether the person is unlawfully carrying prohibited goods; and

recover any prohibited goods found in the course of the frisk search.

A frisk search of a person detained under section 219L is not to be carried out unless it is carried out:

as soon as practicable after the detainee is detained; and

by an officer of Customs who is of the same sex as the detainee.

Before carrying out the frisk search of a person who is detained in a designated place that is a section 234AA place, the officer of Customs must:

advise the detainee of the detainee’s right to request that the search be carried out in an area of the place of detention that would, in the opinion of the Comptroller‑General of Customs, provide adequate personal privacy to the detainee during the search; and

if the detainee so requests, take the detainee to such an area.

If the detainee is detained at a designated place other than a section 234AA place, then, in the conduct of a frisk search of the detainee, the officer conducting the search must use his or her best endeavours to give the detainee as much personal privacy as the circumstances of the search allow.