These issues include lack of employment and mental illness, which are positioned as direct ramifications of the colonisation of Australia and the Stolen Generations caused by forced removals of Indigenous children.

[1] As director of the department, Riley aimed to create content which advocated for Aboriginal self-representation, and allowed for increased participation of Indigenous creatives in the media industry.

[11] The Indigenous Department of the ABC had originally aimed to create an Aboriginal spin-off of a series that McGovern has previously worked on called The Street.

[13] With little technical experience in screenwriting, key producer and writer Leah Purcell stated that McGovern's blunt feedback was 'absolutely what we needed'.

[14] Redfern Now was directed by a group of experienced Aboriginal people in the industry including Rachel Perkins, Catriona McKenzie and Leah Purcell.

[19] Each episode of the series introduces new characters and explores a different social or political issue that faces Aboriginal families in urban Australia.

[20] While the storylines do examine the disparities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, Redfern Now is a fictional series that focuses on character journeys, rather than a documentary.

He encapsulates the distress that many Indigenous people experience, due to the disparity that exists between representing the needs of their Aboriginal community while also trying to abide by white cultural norms.

[1] Australia's distinct colonial history means that representations of Aboriginal people on television screens have traditionally been distorted and tokenistic, and contributed to perpetuating racist cultural stereotypes.

[23] The 1991 National Inquiry into Racist Violence, conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, expressed concerns about the lack of diversity on Australian Screens and encouraged increased recruitment of Indigenous people in the media industry.

[1] Scholar Felicity Collins believes that it is these genuine representations which create an atmosphere of openness, that allow for audience engagement in the process of intercultural dialogue.

Of the first episode Melinda Houston of The Age said, "It makes for television that works on every level: as an important cultural contribution, as a vehicle for sensational actors, writers, directors and technicians, as a great conversation-starter and as a fabulous piece of drama.

"[31] Based on the second episode, Bob Ellis writes, "It was very well done indeed, and the mixture, like Obama's Dreams From My Father, of honesty, eloquence and hope, bids fair... for a series outcome that may well be seen, in sum, hereafter, as a classic.

[1] Generally feedback received was overwhelmingly positive, with The Sydney Morning Herald calling the first airing a "landmark moment" for Australian television.

They reviewed that the dark themes only existed in the background, and at the foreground were deep character explorations which assisted in presenting a rich and diverse culture.

[35] Luke Buckmaster of The Guardian gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, praising its "superb cast" and saying "the series concludes at the peak of its power".

[35] Graham Blundell, Australian actor and writer, admitted to expecting "something grim and grey in tone" for a series set in Redfern.

Attributing to this sense of Redfern as a multidimensional place, is the diverse settings which includes schools, homes, streets, alleys and cafes.