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As allegations of police violence against protesters return to public focus, academics say the warning signs have been evident for years.

Last month, the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog — invited following the antisemitic attack in Bondi in December — prompted large demonstrations at each of his public appearances. In Sydney, protests were marked by incidents of police force, with officers seen punching demonstrators and dragging Muslim men as they prayed.

Sue Higginson, the Greens' justice spokeswoman who attended the protest, described police as having "violence in their blood, minds". While the New South Wales government has defended officers' behaviour, their conduct is now under investigation by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.

The allegations of misconduct and neglect, however, are nothing new. Detailed incidents are outlined in the recently released Call It Out Annual Report, a collaboration between the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney and the National Justice Project.

The report documents police responses to First Nations people reporting crimes, including accounts from victims who say they were dismissed and treated as though they were at fault.

One 66-year-old victim of an alleged assault said he reported the incident to police, but they did not investigate. In the aftermath, the Aboriginal man said he was "depressed, and sore and bruised where I was manhandled".

"I'm extra cautious of my surroundings ... Local police often harass and over police Aboriginal people in my locale, I have lost all confidence in them," he said.

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Another account describes an Aboriginal woman who was arrested after filming police using force on a child inside a shopping centre. While in custody, she said she was denied medical assistance — despite repeated requests — refused access to an Aboriginal liaison officer, subjected to invasive searches, and mocked when raising concerns about her health.

"They turned the air conditioning off and laughed when I said I couldn't breathe," she said.

"And they joked that maybe I will die. They did not take me to the watch house. The (sic) left me in the van for what felt like 15-20 minutes. When the ambulance arrived, I was dehydrated as the police refused to give me water and I had a very high temperature as well as very high heart rate."

She later lodged a complaint with police, but no action was taken.

The report — which covers a period before the attacks on Camp Sovereignty in August last year — also includes testimony from witnesses who said officers extinguished a sacred ceremonial fire and confiscated cultural tools at the camp in Kings Domain, a peaceful gathering place that also holds the repatriated remains of 38 Aboriginal Victorians.

Rebecca Lewis, a research fellow at the Jumbunna Institute, said the findings highlighted ongoing concerns about how police respond when First Nations people report crimes.

"A key issue we saw in the report was police consistently dismissing reports from First Nations people when they were reporting being victims," she said.

"Requests to review CCTV footage or press charges were persistently denied. Victims described inadequate investigations, police ignoring them, and police stereotyping crimes as the 'Aboriginal problem'."

In one incident, an Aboriginal man asked a non-Indigenous man in a licensed venue to stop making racist comments. He was then struck and lost four teeth.

"When the police arrived the white man and I were both fined for violence in a licensed premises and public nuisance. I informed the police that I had been the victim and to check the CCTV footage as I had not touched the man at all," he reported.

"The police refused to check the footage or investigate further. I am now taking the matter to court. The police automatically assumed I must have instigated the incident or retaliated."

Ms Lewis said a pattern of "over-policing, surveillance and lack of cultural respect" continued to erode trust and compound trauma.

"These are not isolated events," she added. "They reflect systemic structures that continue to deny safety, dignity and proper accountability."

The current reporting period for the Call It Out Racism Register closes on 20 March. Reports can be made online by First Nations people who experience racism, as well as by non-Indigenous people who witness racism against Indigenous people.