Some background:

Redfern is an inter-city suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It has historically been an area populated by migrants. As early as the late nineteenth century, many of the area businesses were run by Syrian immigrants.

Parts of Redfern are increasingly becoming gentrified. The residents are diverse in background, and the combination of historically affordable housing, location, and proximity to the main University of Sydney campus have helped to create an influx of new residents to Redfern in the last decades.

An area called “The Block” (near the Redfern train station and surrounded by Eveleigh, Caroline, Louis and Vine Streets) is the first urban land in Australia that was purchased back by and for the Aboriginal community. The Aboriginal Housing Company (AHC) was set up as the first urban Aboriginal community housing provider, using grant money to purchase the houses on the Block.

Riots in Redfern and Thomas “T.J.” Hickey:

The 2004 Redfern riots began with a riot on 14 February 2004, at the end of Eveleigh Street outside Redfern station, sparked by the death of Thomas 'TJ' Hickey. The teenager, riding on his bicycle, was allegedly being chased by a police vehicle, which led to his impalement on a fence. Members of his family were then reported to have started grieving for TJ around Eveleigh Street with a crowd gathering commiserating with the family. Fliers were distributed blaming police for TJ's death. The police closed the Eveleigh Street entrance to the railway station, but youths in the crowd became violent, throwing bricks and bottles; this escalated into a riot. A subsequent inquest found that although the police were following Hickey, they had not caused the accident, a verdict that caused controversy in Redfern's Aboriginal community. The riots sparked fresh debate into the welfare of Australian Aborigines and the response of the police to those living in the Redfern area. [Courtesy Wikipedia]

Further reading:

REDWatch community action group http://www.redwatch.org.au
Redfern Oral Histories – http://redfernoralhistory.org
Cities of Whiteness, by Wendy S. Shaw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Block_(Sydney)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redfern,_New_South_Wales