Terrorism (Preventative Detention) Act 2006

scan the person with an electronic or mechanical device, whether hand held or not, to detect any thing;

remove the person’s headwear, gloves, footwear or outer clothing (such as a coat or jacket), but not his or her inner clothing or underwear, in order to facilitate a frisk search;

frisk search the person;

search any article removed under paragraph (b).

A police officer authorised by this Act to do a strip search of a person may do any or all of the following —

remove any article that the person is wearing including any article covering his or her private parts;

search any article removed under paragraph (a);

search the person’s external parts, including his or her private parts.

A police officer authorised by this Act to do a strip search of a person is not entitled to search any of the person’s bodily cavities.

the officer must ask the person to indicate whether a male or a female should exercise the power on the person and must act in accordance with the answer; and

in the absence of an answer, the person must be treated as if of the gender that the person outwardly appears to the officer to be.

stop and detain the person for a reasonable period;

search any thing being carried by or under the immediate control of the person;

order the person to remove any thing that might injure the searcher when doing the search from any article that the person is wearing;

order the person to do anything reasonable to facilitate the search;

in the case of a strip search, order the person to accompany the searcher to a place where the search can be done in accordance with clause 7(4).

This clause operates if a police officer (the searcher) is authorised by this Act to do a basic search or a strip search on a person.

Before the searcher does a basic search or a strip search on the person the searcher must —

request the person to consent to the search; and

if the person does not consent to the search or withdraws his or her consent, inform the person that it is an offence to obstruct the searcher doing the search.

If a basic search or a strip search is done on a person —

it must be done as quickly as is reasonably practicable;

it must not be any more intrusive than is reasonably necessary in the circumstances;

it must be done by a person of the same gender as the person being searched unless the person doing it is a doctor or a nurse;

the searcher, if he or she proposes to remove any article that the person is wearing, must tell the person why it is considered necessary to do so;

the person must be allowed to dress as soon as it is finished;

the person must be provided with a reasonably adequate replacement for any article of clothing or footwear seized if, due to the seizure, the person is left without adequate clothing or footwear in the circumstances; and

the person must not be questioned while it is being done about any offence that he or she is suspected of having committed.

If a strip search is done on a person that involves removing any article that the person is wearing or searching the person’s private parts —

any person present while it is done must be of the same gender as the person being searched;

it must be done in circumstances affording reasonable privacy to the person;

it must not involve the removal of more articles being worn by the person than is reasonably necessary for doing it;

the person’s private parts must not be searched unless the searcher reasonably suspects it is necessary to do so for the purposes of the search;

it must not involve more visual inspection than is reasonably necessary for doing it; and

the number of people present while it is done (excluding a person who is present under clause 8) must not be more than is reasonably necessary to ensure it is done effectively and to ensure the safety of all present.

In this clause —

who is unable by reason of a mental disability (which term includes intellectual disability, a psychiatric condition, an acquired brain injury and dementia) to understand the general nature and effect of, and the reason for and the consequences of undergoing, a strip search; or

who is unconscious or otherwise unable to understand a request made or information given under this Act or to communicate whether or not he or she consents to undergoing a strip search;

a parent of the child;

a guardian of the child;

another person who has responsibility for the day to day care of the child; or

if no person mentioned in another paragraph of this definition is available — a person, or a person in a class of persons, prescribed;

the spouse or de facto partner of the incapable person;

a parent of the incapable person;

if the incapable person is under 18 years of age — a guardian of the incapable person;

if the incapable person has reached 18 years of age — the Public Advocate or a guardian of the incapable person appointed under the Guardianship and Administration Act 1990;

another person who has responsibility for the day to day care of the incapable person; or

if no person mentioned in another paragraph of this definition is available — a person, or a person in a class of persons, prescribed.

If a strip search is done on a protected person, it must be done in the presence of a responsible person for the protected person or some other person who can provide the protected person with support and represent his or her interests.