The case, which was launched against NSW Police in April 2024, was settled on confidential terms three weeks before it was set to go to trial in the Supreme Court.
One of the complainants, a single mum who uses the pseudonym Megan for privacy, has two Aboriginal sons who were on bail from the ages of 11 and 13 after being found as passengers in a stolen car.
Police attended her home in regional NSW more than 150 times over 20 months, with many of the visits taking place between midnight and 4am.
NSW legislation allows courts to authorise police to attend a private residence to check that someone is complying with their bail conditions.
But the Justice and Equity Centre, representing Megan in court, argued that many of the bail checks were done without this court authorisation, which amounted to trespass.
Megan said the visits often involved police banging on doors, shining torches through the windows and letting themselves in through the back gate in the middle of the night.
She said the visits were scary and stressful for her family and resulted in her kids missing school because of exhaustion.
''My eldest is driving around with his head held high now, knowing police can't just randomly pull him over,'' Megan said.
''But I know he's still shaking in fear about what they could do.
''They've already done the damage, and it will take a lot for my boys to start trusting police again.''
The other complainant, a single mum of three who uses the pseudonym Joanne, said police visited her Western Sydney home to do bail checks on her Indigenous son more than 90 times in 18 months.
She said one time there were three checks in a few hours.
"The checks often happened on school nights, which meant my youngest daughter was too tired to go to school in the morning," she said.
NSW Police said officers were acting lawfully when they conducted the bail compliance checks.
Such checks are an important tool for keeping the public safe and managing risks associated with letting people be out of jail during an ongoing court process, a force spokesperson said.
But a report from the NSW Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, released in 2025, found police were stretching their authority and powers by relying on a weak legal principle to conduct bail compliance checks without court authorisation.
Solicitor Kate Sinclair said it was immensely brave for her clients to bring the case against the force.
''They did it for their families and their communities and we respect their courage,'' she said.
Megan and her sons have also taken NSW Police to federal court for racial discrimination, arguing that the boys were targeted because they are Aboriginal.
The case is ongoing.
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