Laws are being introduced in Victoria to allow children as young as 10 to be strip-searched in public by police of the opposite sex without the knowledge of the children’s parents. The Terrorist (Community Protection) (Amendment) Bill 2005 will be debated by the state parliament in coming weeks.

Law Institute chief executive John Cain said: “To have your children potentially strip-searched based solely on the police officer at the time making a determination that it was not reasonable or practicable to inform the parents would be a worry.” The strip-searching of children in public by opposite-sex police officers is already law in NSW under the Terrorism (Police Powers) Act 2002.

Dale Mills

From Green Left Weekly, February 8, 2006.
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