A ground-breaking sports program for young Indigenous people is offering a lifeline to a community in need.
Redfern community leader Shane Phillips saw change was desperately needed to reduce crime and help Indigenous Australians regain a sense of pride.
In 2009, an unorthodox partnership proposed by the local police significantly dropped crime rates.
And it all started with a simple boxing program, as Gautam Kapil reports:
Waking up before sunrise three times a week maybe a tall order for many young people, but for participants of the Clean Slates Without Prejudice program, its a chance to turn their lives around.
Eunice Grimes is a senior mentor of the program run jointly by Redfern Police and Tribal Warrior, a local Aboriginal training organisation.
The program is the brainchild of Redfern Local Area Commander Superintendent Luke Freudenstein who admitted he hadnt had much interaction with the Indigenous community before working in the area.
Freudenstein wanted to prevent crime before it escalates into a vicious cycle.
His solution was to provide boxing training in a structured environment supported by the Aboriginal community.
