AIR travellers will be invited to take part in "virtual strip searches" at Australian airports when the Federal Government begins trialling a range of security screening measures this month.
The measures include a controversial body scanner that can see underneath a person's clothes.
The Government says the scanner is designed to detect hidden weapons and explosives but critics say it is an invasion of privacy.
"It provides detailed images of a person's body, in particular body shape, which many people might find highly embarrassing," Stephen Blanks from the NSW Council for Civil Liberties.
"It's not normal for security to require strip searches of people getting on aeroplanes, and why should this virtual strip search become the norm?"
The executive director of the Government's Office of Transport Security, Paul Retter, said passengers would not be forced to use the body scanner before boarding their flights.
"During the trial, travellers will be able to choose the existing hand-luggage scanners and walk-through metal detectors, or they could choose the technology trial lane and provide feedback on the new technologies."
Measures had been put in place to ensure passengers' privacy and dignity was protected, Mr Retter said.
"People who do opt for the technology trial lane can do so knowing that the officer examining the images is located away from the screening lane and cannot see them. Faces are blurred and images are not saved and cannot be transferred."
He said the scans were safe and emitted only a very small amount of radiation. "The dosage from one body scan is 400 times less than a single medical X-ray. It would take 10,000 scans to reach the maximum level of safe radiation recommended in a year."
The other technologies on trial include explosive-detecting X-ray machines and vapour and liquid analysers. All of the equipment has been assessed by the Australian Nuclear Science Technology Organisation and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation.
"Some [of the technologies] are already used overseas as part of aviation security and we would like to assess which, if any, may be appropriate for use in Australia," Mr Retter said.
The trials will begin in the middle of this month and will run until the end of next month at airports in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
By Jano Gibson, Urban Affairs Reporter
PIC: MOC Pages