<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The NSW government will appeal a landmark decision on the lawfulness of police strip searches at music festivals, which has been slammed as "needless waste of resources".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Raya Meredith was the lead plaintiff of a class action that went before the Supreme Court after she was subjected to an invasive strip search when she was asked to remove a tampon at Splendour in the Grass in 2018, which uncovered no drugs on her.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Justice Dina Yehia awarded Meredith $93,000 in damages after </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/court-to-rule-on-legality-police-strip-searches-nsw/259d616d-c19a-4a8e-a835-5ace171b784a" rel="" target="_blank" title="she ruled the search was humiliating and unlawful"><span>she ruled the search was humiliating and unlawful</span></a><span>, with her decision clarifying that police can only conduct strip searches in very exceptional circumstances.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/strip-searches-music-festivals-rules-in-nsw-explained/600c1c7f-69ed-446e-867d-fb48294d2d6f" rel="" target="_blank" title="A court ruling has changed the way police conduct strip-searches in NSW. Here is what you need to know"><strong><span>A court ruling has changed the way police conduct strip-searches in NSW. Here is what you need to know</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Slater and Gordon, which ran the class action lawsuit involving 3000 people who were strip-searched in similar circumstances at music festivals between 2016 to 2022, had been negotiating a settlement between the state and the claimants.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But today, the state indicated it would appeal the court's decision.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The State has filed a Notice of Intention to Appeal in this matter," NSW Police said in a brief statement.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/raya-meredith-class-action-nsw-government-to-appeal-landmark-stripsearch-court-decision/7462796a-6104-4351-9ea9-4814081563d9" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Premier Chris Minns earlier this morning said the government supported the police's decision to move to appeal, adding that strip searches as "still an important measure to keep people safe". </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Police are caught in a difficult position where drugs are still illegal, they're not legal, particularly the supply of drugs at music festivals, and they've got a responsibility to keep people safe," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I believe they'll use that power, if it was granted to them via appeal, judiciously, not in a broad, sweeping way, and they'll make sure that they are fully trained.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We'll wait for the court to make a decision."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Slater and Gordon senior associate in class actions, William Zerno, argued thousands of others involved in the class action were searched in similar circumstances to Meredith, with hundreds searched at the same music festival and by the same police officers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is a matter for the state to explain why it is arguing that searches undertaken on the same basis as Raya's were lawful when it admitted the unlawfulness of Raya's search," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/perth-city-of-melville-introduces-cat-law/aea347d2-5754-491a-b751-95c778c63cb1" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Council introduces cat law with owners facing household limit and $300 fine</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Zerno added the notice to appeal does not render the judgment any less effective and remains in place unless it is overturned in an appeals court.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"An appeal against this judgment will only delay justice being served for thousands of festivalgoers," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"And it will ultimately cost the State more if it does not resolve its liability now."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meredith said today's development was "very disappointing".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The others in this class action deserve to have their cases heard and settled without further delay," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's a needless waste of resources, and with the music festival season underway in NSW, I'd hate to think that the abuse of these extreme powers by police that I experienced might continue under a scenario where NSW Police appealed this judgment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's time that what is due is paid, apologies are made, and a clean slate imparted."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Justice Yehia's ruling earlier this month clarified the interpretation of the legislation, stating that a drug dog indication or a police officer's suspicion of drug possession was insufficient to provide a lawful basis for a strip search at a festival setting.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She noted two main reasons to conduct a strip search were if police suspect a high-end drug supply or that the person may have a weapon on them.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/scott-morrison-walks-back-net-zero-target-of-2050-describes-it-as-just-ideology/33dd833c-c9d3-4491-ac56-558b182b6bc8" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>'Just ideology': Morrison walks back his own net zero target of 2050</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On Tuesday, a drug summit report commissioned by Minns recommended that the state implement a drug-checking trial at music festivals and pause the use of drug detection dogs and strip searches in the meantime.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The trial would include a health and peer workforce, harm-reduction advice, an exclusion zone and integration with the current drug surveillance and early warning system at music festivals.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>9news.com.au has contacted Police Minister Yasmin Catley for comment. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank" title=""><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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