Australian women win right to sue Qatar Airways over bodily searches
A federal court overturned a previous ruling that dismissed their case.
According to their lawyer, the women, whose names remain confidential, were among dozens of women taken off multiple flights and subjected to nonconsensual bodily searches after a newborn was found abandoned at the Hamad International Airport in Doha in October 2020.
The five Australian women were ordered off Qatar Airways flight 908 to Sydney and taken to ambulances on the tarmac where nurses conducted physical examinations without their consent.
'She told me to pull my pants down and that [she] needed to examine my vagina,' one woman said at the time. 'I said, 'I'm not doing that', and she didn't explain anything to me. She just kept saying, 'We need to see it, we need to see it'.'
The incident triggered global outrage and was condemned by Australia's then foreign minister as a 'grossly disturbing, offensive, concerning set of events.'
An Australian government spokesperson said at the time that up to 10 flights could have been affected by the searches.
The five women had sought to sue Qatar Airways for damages related to 'unlawful physical contact' and pursued claims of assault and false imprisonment and battery against the airport operator, Matar, and the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.
But federal court judge John Halley dismissed the case against the airline and the aviation regulator ruling that the alleged assaults took place off the plane and were not carried out by airline staff. He described the idea that airline staff could have intervened as 'fanciful, trifling, implausible, improbable, and tenuous'.
The women appealed to the full federal court, comprising a panel of three judges, arguing the invasive searches occurred during the process of disembarkation and that the airline should therefore be held liable.
The full court agreed, ruling on Thursday that Justice Halley had erred in summarily dismissing the women's claims.
'There is no sufficiently high degree of certainty that what happened to the appellants in the ambulance could not ultimately be found to have been in 'the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking'. It is therefore not an issue apt to be decided at the stage of summary dismissal,' Justice Angus Stewart said.
'It is also an error to conclude at this stage of the proceeding that Matar's duty of care cannot possibly extend to the circumstances in and around the ambulance.'
The court ordered Qatar Airways and Matar to pay the costs of the appeal.
At the time of the incident, the Qatari government defended its actions saying they were taken in response to the 'shocking and appalling attempt to kill' a newborn girl who was found wrapped in plastic and discarded in a bin at the airport.
The measures were aimed at stopping the 'perpetrators' from fleeing the country, the authorities said while offering an apology for any distress caused to passengers.
The total number of women subjected to the searches remains unclear. The Australian women were among 13 taken off Qatar Airways flight 908 alone.
Damian Sturzaker, the lawyer for the five women, said they were happy with the decision. 'Our clients endured a traumatic experience on that night in Doha, and they deserve to have their day in court and compensation for their suffering,' he said, according to The Australian.
The women had brought claims of negligence, assault and false imprisonment against Matar and the aviation regulator. While Thursday's ruling dismissed the case against the regulator, it allowed the women to amend and continue their case against Matar.
Mr Sturzaker said they would review the court's reasoning to determine whether there was scope to appeal the decision regarding the regulator to Australia's High Court.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Australian defence force fails to meet recruitment targets but numbers improving
The Australian defence force has failed to meet its latest recruitment targets despite recording the highest recruitment and retention levels in more than a decade. The ADF enlisted 7,059 full-time personnel in the 2024-25 financial year, the highest annual intake in 15 years, but still fell more than 1,000 short of its target for that year. According to the Department of Defence's incoming government brief, released under freedom of information laws, the recruitment target for the last financial year was 8,105. The figures also show fewer than 10% of applicants to the ADF in the last financial year were hired, with some dropping out due to the drawn-out recruitment process and many not meeting its strict standards. Sign up: AU Breaking News email More than 75,000 people applied to join, while just 7,059 permanent roles were filled. The government has acknowledged some applicants had dropped out or found other work, and that its commercial contract with the recruitment company Adecco has had 'teething issues'. 'As we've been trying to streamline that recruitment process, there were some teething problems with our new recruitment partner,' said the minister for defence personnel, Matt Keogh. 'I have lent in very hard … to get them back on track with applicant care as well as making sure that in doing the assessment of medical and psych appointments that they are able to be accessed more promptly. 'This has now seen great improvement, we're a long way there, we've still got a little bit more to go.' As of 1 July, the full-time ADF workforce was at 61,189 people. The latest data, provided by the defence department, shows retention has also improved, with separation rates dropping to 7.9%, after sitting between 9% and 11% since 2012. The defence force has a target of 69,000 personnel by the early 2030s, to respond to rising geopolitical tensions. At Senate estimates in June 2024, the chief of defence told the hearing that on 1 May that year the ADF workforce was 4,400 personnel short, with the total workforce at 58,284 people. Despite the shortfall in reaching the recruitment goal for the last financial year, the government said recruitment was now on track to meet the 69,000 target. The government said some of that improvement had come from targeted social media campaigns for Australians aged between 17 and 24 in what Keogh called 'smarter' advertising. 'Doing that advertising in games, in computer games, utilising TikTok, making sure that we're focusing on having that advertising presented where our target age groups are so they are seeing those messages,' Keogh said. 'Advertising [is also] targeted at those key influencers of our potential enlistees, our young people – so people like parents and teachers.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The ADF is also recruiting from overseas, though its program to recruit from Five Eyes partners has started slowly. So far just three New Zealanders have joined the ADF, with a further 70 in the pre-enlistment stage, meaning they could be undergoing fitness tests or waiting for security clearances. Applications opened up to the other Five Eyes nations – the US, the UK and Canada – on 1 January, and more than 500 people across the four countries have applied. The ADF recruited 185 personnel from overseas militaries through its lateral recruitment program in the last financial year. That program is for members of a foreign military who can address critical ADF skill shortages. Keogh also said the government's work to deliver the recommendations of the royal commission into defence and veterans' suicides was a factor in trying to attract people to the ADF. 'Delivering on the recommendations of the royal commission … is really important for improving people's perceptions of, and therefore also their willingness to join the Australian defence force,' he said. 'We're … conscious that we have more work to do in this area as well.' The royal commission handed down its report to the government in September, with 122 recommendations, including the establishment of a body to help defence personnel transition to civilian life and access support. The government agreed in principle to 104 recommendations and has established a taskforce to implement them.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
The horror of Gaza called and an army of rain-soaked Sydney Harbour Bridge marchers, young and old, came in full force
They came in full force in the pouring rain, armed with umbrellas and ponchos and waterproof prams. One man even carried a surfboard. This is Sydney, after all. At least 100,000 people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday as part of a growing global call for a ceasefire in Gaza. It was double the estimated turnout, described by New South Wales police as the largest protest to descend on the city in memory. The massive column of rain-soaked marchers snaked their way across the entire 1.2km length of the bridge. Police temporarily ordered a halt over fears of a crowd crush because of the 'huge number of people taking part'. On Saturday, after the NSW supreme court had ruled in favour of the march proceeding, the Palestine Action Group had crystal ball gazed and said Sunday's bridge crossing would be an 'immense march for humanity'. The group has held a march every Sunday since 7 October 2023. But this was the first time it had taken its rally to Sydney's world-famous landmark, last closed for public assembly in 2023 for World Pride. To regulars of those weekly gatherings, Sunday felt like a tidal wave. Ali, marching with his wife and young daughter, described it as 'history in the making'. 'This is a big moment,' Ali said, as his eight-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, sat on his shoulders calling out 'Free Palestine', her cheeks painted in black, red, white and green. 'The people shut down the Harbour Bridge – the people did it.' But eventually, as scores of mobile phones buzzed on the bridge, the people were turned back. Sign up: AU Breaking News email Police orders were delivered to the masses via periodic text messages as helicopters circled overhead. The first read: 'The march needs to stop due to public safety.' Later, protesters were told to stop walking north and return back to the central business district. The marchers took it all in their stride: everyone was already drenched. As the crowd began to turn around (organisers estimated 300,000 walked on Sunday), a child stood on a pillar, leading a chant: 'In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians.' The boy was among hundreds of infants and children in attendance. Many brandished homemade signs and banged empty pots and pans. The clanging of metal was meant to signify the ongoing starvation in Gaza. Maila, a year five student, said she would describe Sunday's crowd to her own children one day. 'I'm speaking out for the Palestinian kids like me, and for all of Palestine because of the war that's been going on right now,' she said, her hair adorned with a keffiyeh. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Despite the torrential rain and significant transport delays, spirits remained high. Volunteers in fluorescent hi-vis vests directed protesters away from puddles that had amassed on the concrete. Each time a train whistled past, marchers on the bridge, which links the north and south sides of the city, erupted into cheers and whistles, singing 'Free, free Palestine' to passengers going past. Tourists summiting the bridge's 1,332 steps waved down from its steel arched peak, witnesses to an unfolding moment in history that the state's premier, Chris Minns, had tried to stop. The NSW police acting deputy commissioner Peter McKenna described the protest as the largest he'd seen in his time in the force in Sydney. 'Gee whiz, I wouldn't like to try and do this every Sunday,' he said. 'We're very lucky today that the crowd was well behaved.' At the front of the march,several high-profile Australians, including Julian Assange, held a sign that read 'March for Humanity Save Gaza'. Five NSW Labor MPs were alongside Assange, defying their premier. Two of Minns' ministers were there too: Penny Sharpe and Jihad Dib. The federal Labor MP Ed Husic – dumped from the Albanese cabinet in May – was in the crowd. Husic reiterated calls for the Albanese government to sanction Israel and recognise Palestinian statehood. 'People power has come out, I think, largely because they just cannot abide the treatment that has been seen of little kids,' he said. Abib, in the crowd, agreed. She marched across the bridge carrying a Palestinian flag alongside her daughter. She said it was 'humanity' that had brought marchers out in what was truly atrocious weather. 'I think a lot of people are starting to wake up,' she said. 'We're going on two years [of war]. People that were quiet in the beginning have started to speak.' Abib, whose husband is Palestinian, was struck by the diversity of people. Middle-aged women carried a banner crocheted by volunteers. Elderly couples completed the 4km journey on walking sticks. A group of British men held a sign reading 'Gay Jews 4 Gaza'. As the day began to wind down, Josh Lees, one the main organisers of a march that will be long remembered, told Guardian Australia: 'It's even bigger than my wildest dreams. 'It's a mass march for humanity to stop a genocide, our politicians have to now listen to the will of the people and sanction Israel.'
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
World's most and least populated countries REVEALED - as charts show how the UK slipped out of top 20
Nearly 70 per cent of the world's countries have seen their populations double since 1960, Daily Mail can reveal. Mesmerising charts show how the global population has rocketed to exceed 8billion, despite global birth rates plummeting to all-time lows. The United Arab Emirates and Qatar saw the largest leaps during the period, of over around 8,000 per cent, to 10.8m and 2.8m, respectively. Eight countries saw their population decrease, with Bulgaria recording the biggest fall (-18 per cent). India – home to 1.45billion people – officially overtook China to top spot in 2023, with its population having tripled in size since the 60s. Over a third of the world now live in one of the two nations, World Bank figures show. The US ranks a distant third at around 340million people. For context, that's approximately one billion fewer than 2nd-placed China, which is battling a population slump that has fuelled concerns of an impending 'disaster' for the economic superpower. Between 1979-2015, the Chinese Communist Party maintained its controversial one-child policy in a bid to curb its post-war baby boom. But a decade later, the country's birth rate has plunged and the government is even offering parents a £375 per child annual bursary to reverse the decline. India's staggering population could even be an undercount because it hasn't carried out a census for 14 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced earlier this month that India would undergo a full population count over the next two years. The Pacific island of Tuvalu, meanwhile, has the smallest population in the world – at below 10,000. In terms of the global league table, the UK's population of 69million ranks 21st. It has increased by 32.1 per cent since 1960, when it ranked 9th. The total world population has shot up 168.3 per cent in the same timeframe. Despite the enormous population growth across the majority of the planet over the last 60 years, demographers warn the world is in the throes of a massive population crisis. More than half of nations globally have a fertility rate below 2.1 – the recommended amount to sustain current populations. Women in England and Wales, on average, now only have 1.44 children. This is the lowest level since records began in the 30s. Yet, in parts of the country, this is as low as 0.1 – the equivalent of one child for every ten women of childbearing age, the Daily Mail revealed last month . Without replenishment of an ageing population, scientists claim public services and economic growth are at risk. Ever-declining birth rates will also heap extra pressure on the NHS and social care. Commentators warned that policymakers need to 'wake up to the fact that falling fertility rates are one of the greatest threats' to the West and that the country could become increasingly reliant on migration. Looking ahead to 2100, nearly half of the world's countries' populations are expected to shrink, forecasts suggest. Ukraine, Jamaica and Albania are among 14 nations set to halve in size. Hong Kong is expected to slide the most, at 72.4 per cent. China will, according to estimates by the World Bank Group, dip below 1billion in 2071 and end the century at around 633m. India's population is expected to peak in the late 2060s. As of 2024, more than 60 countries including China, Germany, and Japan have already hit their peak populations, according to the figures. On the contrary, African and Middle Eastern nations are set to undergo a boom. Atop the list is Angola, a nation of 37m. By 2100, it is expected to grow to over 150m people – a leap of nearly 300 per cent. Close behind are the Democratic Republic of Congo (294.2 per cent) and Tanzania (283.4 per cent) The UK's population is expected to creep up by 7.3 per cent to just north of 74m. The US, meanwhile, is projected to see a 23.9 per cent leap to nearly 430m. Biggest % growth 1. UAE - 10,876,981 (81881.9 per cent) 2. Qatar - 2,857,822 (7,836 per cent) 3. Kuwait - 4,973,861 (1,499 per cent) 4. Sint Maarten - 43,350 (1,496 per cent) 5. Saudi Arabia - 35,300,280 (1349.7 per cent) 6. Djibouti - 1,168,722 (1,258 per cent) 7. Jordan - 11,552,876 (1,253 per cent) 8. Oman - 5,281,538 (895.6 per cent) 9. Bahrain - 1,588,670 (860 per cent) 10. Cayman Islands - 74,457 (783.5 per cent)
