During a debate in parliament,government minister Tara Moriarty admitted the figures were “cause for concern”,saying Catley “shared those concerns”.
“The minister for police and counter-terrorism isn’t turning a blind eye to these concerns raised by community members,and is planning to meet with key stakeholders in the coming weeks to probe whether the policy settings in place are fit for purpose,” he said.
Catley’s intervention follows Premier Chris Minns on Wednesday morning defending the powers,saying the laws are uniform across Australia and insisting that police were improving their practices.
The use of strip-searches on children – and the laws governing their use – have long been a concern of justice advocates who say the powers are ill-defined and overly broad.
During the debate in the upper house on Wednesday,Labor backbencher Cameron Murphy added his weight to calls for reform of the laws,saying the current system was “broken”.
“I’ve spent my whole life virtually arguing against drug sniffing dogs. Nothing has changed in terms of this,” he said.
“This system,in my view,is broken. I know it’s a view that my party doesn’t share at the moment that they’re humiliating searches.”