Video

Retired magistrate Pat O'Shane has criticised the Intervention and called on the Abbott government to put more resources into Indigenous affairs. "It's racist, in a word," she said.

"It's discriminatory; it is not applied to other communities in this society."

Ms O'Shane said the Howard government suspended the Racial Discrimination Act specifically to implement the policy in Indigenous communities.

Homelands are communities established by Aboriginal people so that they can maintain their connection with their traditional, ancestral land. These communities have lower levels of social problems and significantly better health outcomes for Aboriginal people -- as well as a strengthened connection to culture, language and spirituality.