‘Blank cheque’ police powers to target indigenous youth

The Guardian newspaper has revealed there were at least 12 people under the age of 18 among the 8,717 people subject to a Firearm Prohibition Order in New South Wales in April.

The media organisation discovered via a freedom of information request there were 84 searches of children and teenagers. Of the 125 people under 18 who have been served with an order, 54 per cent were identified as Aboriginal.

Lauren Stefanou, a leading lawyer with the Aboriginal Legal Service in NSW, has criticised police, saying it gives them a “blank cheque to surveil, stop, search, arrest and charge Aboriginal children and adults”.

And Samantha Lee, a solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre, told the Guardian she has had clients who were subject to an FPO without ever having committed a gun-related crime.

Others had been searched because they were in a car with someone who had a FPO.

“I know some people that just don’t want to go out of their home because they think they’ll be stopped in their car, in the street,” she says. “They just feel like they will always be subject to coercive police powers.”

NSW police responded saying several changes had been introduced this year related to FPO approvals for young people.

There is now an independent review by the commander of the firearms registry when an FPO was sought for someone under 18.

The NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson said she was concerned about the “lifelong impacts” of FPOs on children and young people.