A survey of African residents in Melbourne has prompted more allegations of racism in Victoria, this time against the police.
The report by a coalition of Melbourne legal centres claims discriminatory treatment of African youths by police has led to increased tensions.
One such claim of discrimination comes from Ethiopian man Daniel Haile-Michael, who says he was assaulted by a police officer while walking with a friend late at night near his housing commission flat in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Flemington about five years ago.
Mr Haile-Michael says he believes he was targeted because he is black.
"The divvy van just swerved up in front of us and it stopped us, and one of the officers came towards me and asked me what the hell I was doing," he said.
"I told him I'd just come from the flats and then he got more and more aggressive, and the next thing I knew ... I was on the ground and he was laying punches into me.
"All I could do was start screaming."
Mr Haile-Michael says he was only 15 years old at the time and the attack was entirely unprovoked.
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Police admit tensions
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland says there are racial tensions between some police officers and African youth, but big efforts are being made from the recruitment level up to stamp out intolerant attitudes.
"This is not a new problem. With every wave of migration that's come into this country, we've had problems with youths," he said.
"If you go back far enough it was the Italian wave, the Greek wave, the Vietnamese wave, and what we're seeing now is a wave of migration coming out of Africa, mainly driven by our humanitarian-refugee policy.
"Predictably, we are seeing some tensions with youth and we know that we have to deal with it. We are dealing with it."
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