This news article discusses the over-policing of Aboriginal people, including the disparity between the percentages of Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people being taken to court at the discretion of police for minor offences, including: low level cannabis offences, traffic offences and public nuisance offences.

Michael McGowan and Christopher Knaus, ''Essentially a cover-up': why it's so hard to measure the over-policing of Indigenous Australians', The Guardian (Online, 13 June 2020) 

The law places limits on how police operate. Within those limits, police have a large amount of discretion about how they act. The way police use their discretion shapes people’s experiences with the criminal legal system and has been repeatedly linked to the over-representation of Aboriginal people in custody.

Police discretion

Diversions are options that police can use to prevent people from entering or continuing in the criminal legal system. Law and policy place some conditions on when diversions can be used. Police also have discretion about whether to use diversions. Research shows that diversions are underused for Aboriginal people, especially...

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Michael McGowan and Christopher Knaus, ''Essentially a cover-up': why it's so hard to measure the over-policing of Indigenous Australians', The Guardian (Online, 13 June 2020)

Police discretion

Policing and diversions