The number of strip searches in NSW has doubled in a year, concerning legal rights advocates.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) has launched an inquiry after it was revealed that strip searches have doubled from 560 in 2016 to 1,100 in 2017.

The rising rate has been accompanied by a growing number of complaints, including claims that Aboriginal children as young as 11 have been illegally strip searched.

Strip search powers carry strict constraints under the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002, and should only be used in cases deemed “necessary and urgent”.

Strip searches are considered necessary when people are suspected of hiding drugs or weapons under their clothes, but in many cases they appear to serve no purpose, experts say.

Juvenile crime stats in previous years have shown around 90 per cent of searches in regional towns resulted in “no find”.

NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge claims the rise in strip searches comes from a policy directive.

“This has to come up from higher up in the police hierarchy, and that's a mystery that needs to be explained,” he said.

“What we're seeing is that up to two-thirds of the time, police are producing nothing — hundreds of people being humiliated for no reason.”

The Law Commission inquiry will be undertaken behind closed doors over the coming months.