ACT Policing and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) have ceased using spit hoods following an internal review which found the risks outweighed the benefits.
Announcing the move, the AFP said its review examined whether the use of spit hoods was a reasonable and proportionate response against individuals who assaulted police officers by spitting saliva or blood.
“The review found that even though spit hoods were only used on limited occasions by ACT Policing, and not used at all across the broader AFP, they were not sufficient to prevent transmissible diseases,” the police said.
“The review found the risk of using spit hoods outweighed the benefits of their use, given they are ineffective in protecting against transmissible diseases,” it said.
“The AFP, which includes ACT Policing, has stopped using spit hoods and is providing equipment and implementing procedures to better protect members from spitting and biting.”
Welcoming the decision, ACT Human Rights Commissioner Helen Watchirs commended the professionalism shown in the AFP’s review.
“In our view, spit hoods can pose a serious risk of suffocation and are not the least restrictive means necessary to detain people,” Dr Watchirs said.
“Therefore their use by force is not reasonable nor proportionate,” she said.
“We agree that spit hoods are ineffective in protecting against transmissible disease, and other more effective means are available such as personal protective equipment (PPE), as used in correctional detention.”
Dr Watchirs said discontinuing the use of spit hoods allayed the Commission’s concerns about using them on young people, and about a lack of disaggregated data on their use.
She said there was evidence from other jurisdictions that they had been used disproportionately on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
“A spit hood was implicated in the death of Wayne Fella Morrison in South Australia, and South Australia banned the use of spit hoods in 2021, via legislation,” the Human rights Commissioner said.
“In October 2022, the Commission also raised the issue of whether using spit hoods at the ACT watchhouse could constitute inhumane and degrading treatment, with the UN Sub-Committee Against Torture, during their visit to Canberra,” Dr Watchirs said.
