Central Victorian Aboriginal leaders speak about systemic racism and injustice in Australia as Black Lives Matter movement ramps up

Raylene Harradine, chief executive officer of the Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative and a First Nations' Assembly member, said events in the US called to mind the deaths of Indigenous people in custody and violence they had experienced at the hands of the police.

Amnesty International Australia says more than 400 Indigenous people have died in police custody since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody ended in 1991.

Ms Harradine said these deaths showed "things haven't really changed since then".

"There is something wrong with our system," Ms Harradine said.

She said people believed Australia was a fair country and the system was set up to work for everyone, but racism remained embedded.

Related: 'It's about trying to break that cycle': Culture key for young Indigenous people

While there had been some inroads made, with such initiatives as the introduction of Koori Courts in Victoria, there were still issues for Indigenous people.

"Globally, this is still happening... If you're born of a colour, if you're born black - particularly for a male - you've got a target on your back," Ms Harradine said.

The family of Tanya Day, a Yorta Yorta woman who died after suffering a head injury in a police cell at Castlemaine, said it was a "stain on this country" that no police officer had ever been held criminally responsible the death of an Indigenous person in custody.

"We know that our mum would have been treated differently and would still be alive today if she was a non-Indigenous person... Aboriginal deaths in custody must end," Ms Day's family said in a statement with Change the Record, an Aboriginal-led justice coalition.

Rodney Carter, the chief executive officer of the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, said the community was still struggling to deal with the trauma from experiences within the justice system.

"I feel for the police with what they have to deal with on the front line, but we all have to be held accountable for our behaviour," Mr Carter said, adding that escalating situations into violence was "intolerable".

He said the recent racism experienced by members of the Karen community in Bendigo highlighted how sections of the community remained intolerant of other people and cultures.

While it was hard to say how the issues could be solved, Ms Harradine said cultural awareness was really important.

"When we look at the recent deaths in custody and the way the police or the justice system have treated Aboriginal people, I think there's a lack of understanding around the underlying issues with what's going on with Aboriginal people," she said.

Ms Harradine also suggested some success could be found with putting more resources into community policing programs and relationship-building.

"Investment in the front end is probably better than being reactive," she said.

Mr Carter said the current situation offered an opportunity for conversations within the families about these issues.

These conversations would help ensure that children would not only not become perpetrators of racism in the future, he said, but empower them to stand up for others.

Mr Carter said there was also a simple way to make positive change: people treating others the way they would want to be treated.