A review into controversial strip searches at music festivals has revealed low standards of record keeping and training for officers.
Less than half of NSW police officers who carried out strip searches at five music festivals in 2021 and 2022 completed specialist training, the NSW Police and the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission found.
The audit, released on Monday, reported that 47 per cent of officers completed a specific music festival training package within the required time and 28 per cent did not complete the training at all.
It also revealed officers had failed to properly complete official music festival field processing forms, intended to ensure searches were conducted lawfully.
It found that 74 per cent of general search records and 68 per cent of strip search records adequately reflected reasonable suspicion, while 27 per cent of strip search records showed police had followed the rules.
While training for police attending music festivals had improved, there were gaps in the training actually being rolled out, the review found.
The report noted the legality of a search might be challenged in court or in a misconduct investigation, and questions regarding an officer’s actions could be raised months or years after the search.
The commission's acting chief Anina Johnson said training and policies alone were not enough to change conduct.
“It is critical that new processes are effectively communicated to all police officers and reinforced with proper supervision on the ground,” Ms Johnson said.
NSW police acknowledged the deficiencies flagged by the audit but blamed a change in organisational priorities during 2021 and 2022 due to COVID-19 public health orders and restrictions.
They said the importance of music festival training and guidelines had been reiterated to officers across the state.
