The Legislative Council has voted in favour of tightening strip search laws involving young Tasmanians.
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Under the new legislation, searches on youth in custody must be done when there are reasonable grounds to do so and in the least intrusive manner.
A search must be done by an officer of the same gender when practicable, and if the youth is a transsexual, transgender or intersexual, they are able to request the gender of the officer.
The legislation does not include or apply to body cavity searches or searches under the Terrorism Act.
Additional authorisation is required for an unclothed search to be conducted.
Specific information on searches must be registered and made available for auditing and accountability.
A search officer must not use force during a search unless it is the only means it can be reasonably and necessarily conducted.
During consultation on the legislation, Law Society of Tasmania executive director Luke Rheinburger said there was no limit on how often a search might be conducted which was of concern, particularly when a youth was being transferred from one custodial facility to another.
Police Association of Tasmania president Colin Riley said officers would need to refer to two separate pieces of legislation, with different provisions, dependant on the physical location where a search was conducted.
"Under the proposed bill, our members will have to refer to one provision when searching a youth in custody inside a custodial facility and another act entirely for youth when in custody outside a custodial facility," he said.
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