Further statement regarding Goodlife/Lost City music festival, NSW

Police conducted 12 strip searches at the Goodlife/Lost City music festival on Saturday 22 February 2020.

11 of the 12 strip searches conducted resulted in positive detections:

  • A 14-year-old female allegedly in possession of 31 MDMA capsules concealed internally
  • A 17-year-old male allegedly in possession of 75 MDMA capsules, located prior to the strip search, and a knife, allegedly concealed in his shoe
  • A 17-year-old female allegedly in possession of 2.2g of MDMA
  • A 15-year-old male allegedly in possession of 11 MDMA capsules concealed internally
  • A 16-year-old female allegedly in possession of 4g of ice concealed internally
  • A 16-year-old female allegedly in possession of 1.2g of MDMA
  • A 15-year-old male allegedly in possession of 3 MDMA capsules concealed internally
  • A 15-year-old male allegedly in possession of 0.4g of MDMA concealed in his underwear
  • A 16-year-old female allegedly in possession of 0.8g of MDMA concealed internally
  • A 16-year-old female allegedly in possession of 2 MDMA capsules concealed internally
  • A 15-year old female allegedly concealing a bag of alcohol in her underwear

It is important to note, if a person retrieves an item concealed internally and provides that item to police, that event is classified as a strip search.

All person searches were conducted in accordance with the guidelines set out by the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (LEPRA), which include additional safeguards for children and vulnerable people with which police must comply.

In accordance with LEPRA, police use a range of measures to assess whether a strip search is appropriate before the search is undertaken.

This is outlined in the NSW Police Force Person Search Manual 2019, which is publicly available online.

/Public Release. View in full here.