Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are 11 times more likely to be searched by Victoria Police than non-Indigenous people, according to new data.

Released by the Centre for Racial Profiling, using four years of data released under freedom of information laws, the numbers paint a disturbing picture.

People perceived as African were eight times more likely to be searched than Caucasian people, while for people perceived as Middle Eastern/Mediterranean it was five times more likely, and for people perceived to be Pacific Islander, it was four times more likely.

In 2023, there were more than 17,100 police searches. The data does not capture vehicle searches, only those of individuals.

The data provided to the centre was incomplete, with the Centre for Racial Profiling saying close to 17 per cent of police search records fail to record ethnic appearance, despite this field being made mandatory in 2019.

The Centre said the data indicated police are targeting certain ethnic groups for investigation.

"The over-policing of particular communities evident in the search data is confronting and deeply disturbing," they said.

"If police are eleven times more likely to search a person they perceive to be Aboriginal than a person they perceive to be White - and the hit rates for searches of these groups are roughly the same - this means that Aboriginal people are eleven times more likely to be criminalised and enter the criminal legal system than White people as a consequence of police activities alone."

The Yoorrook Justice Commission heard testimony from a number of people who said they felt they had been profiled or surveilled due to their Aboriginality.

Dr Tamar Hopkins from the Centre told SBS the data matches search figures in NSW, as well as the UK and US.

"We have a significant problem here that is under-explored," Dr Hopkins said.

"We do not have the same kind of movements against racial profiling that occur in other countries, and yet we have a problem that is just as significant, if not more than other jurisdictions."

The Victorian Police denied the claim, with a spokesperson saying the force has a "zero-tolerance policy towards racial profiling", and arguing officers are "trained to police in response to a person's behaviour, not their background".

"Victoria Police is committed to ensuring every member of the community who comes into contact with police is treated with dignity, respect, fairness and that their human rights are protected," the spokesperson said.

"If claims of racial profiling are reported to police, we will investigate them and take them seriously."

Earlier this year, the chief executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Nerita Waight, accused some members of Victorian Police of "fear mongering" by anonymously talking about youth crime to some media outlets, with the goal to undermine raising the age of criminal responsibility.

"Fear mongering about crime continues that trauma because it is Aboriginal children, young people and adults who are targeted when governments ramp up tough on crime policies," Ms Waight said at the time.

Racial profiling was banned in 2015 after Victorian Police settled a Federal Court claim.

The Centre said the findings show Victorian Police "continues to engage in racial profiling despite its 2015 ban".

"If police search (or otherwise investigate) a particular community at a greater rate than others, this will result in their discovering more crime in that community than others," they said.

Victorian Police said searches of an individual can only be conducted when they have lawful grounds to do so, with each search needing to be justified as "necessary and proportionate" to the circumstances.

"There are limited circumstances in which a person may be lawfully searched prior to arrest," a Victorian Police spokesperson said.