ACT Human Rights Commissioner Dr Helen Watchirs is “heartened” by the announcement on Friday that spit hoods will no longer be used by ACT police or by the AFP nationally.

The mesh-fabric hood, which covers the face to stop a person from spitting and biting, will no longer be used by the AFP after a review found the risk of using them outweighed the benefits.

The force said the review, launched after a spit hood was used on a minor, found the devices were ineffective in preventing transmissible diseases.

“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,” it said in a statement on Friday.

Commissioner Watchirs said: “The AFP’s review of the use of spit hoods was professionally undertaken, and the ACT Human Rights Commission welcomed the opportunity to speak to the team and make a written submission.

“In our view, spit hoods can pose a serious risk of suffocation and are not the least restrictive means necessary to detain people. Therefore their use by force is not reasonable nor proportionate.

“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.

“Discontinuing the use of spit hoods allays our concerns about using them on young people; and about a lack of disaggregated data on their use.

The Australian Federal Police Association last year said there was no practical alternative to using spit hoods and banning them would place police officers at unnecessary risk.

The association has said if spit hoods were banned, mandatory blood and saliva testing for all violent offenders, if not everyone who was arrested, should be implemented to protect officers.

SA became the first state to criminalise spit hoods in 2021 after the 2016 death of a man who died in a prison van after he was placed facedown with a spit hood on his head.

Queensland police also banned spit hoods in watch houses last year, but still use them in prisons and other correctional centres.

The NT fell into line with other Australian jurisdictions in October, banning the hoods on youths in police custody but they continue to be used on adults in watch houses.

–with AAP