Spit hoods will no longer be used by the Australian Federal Police following an internal review into the controversial restraint devices.

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.

The review set out to establish whether using spit hoods was a reasonable and proportionate response against people who assault police officers by spitting saliva or blood.

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.

South Australia 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 Northern Territory fell into line with other Australian jurisdictions in October last year, banning the hoods on youths in police custody but they continue to be used on adults in watch houses.

– AAP