It has the potential for something that could be quite a minor offence being punished and ending up with perhaps the death of a person, and that's happened in other places in Australia. So police have a bit of an issue with the fact that it really is perpetuating violence, I suppose. The nature of traditional punishment means that there rarely is a complaint. No-one wants to talk about it. But there's also a feeling that some forms of punishment, like spearing, are better than going to prison for a length of time.
Traditional punishment tends to be over and done with fairly quickly.
However, forms of punishment differ around the country and each jurisdiction is dealing with the issue in its own way. In Victoria the government, police and indigenous groups have reached agreement on developing an Aboriginal Court where traditional forms of punishment could be handed out with the advice of elders. But violent acts like spearing won't be allowed. In South Australia there's a court where Magistrates accept advice from elders before imposing a penalty, but there's no traditional punishment. In Western Australia there are good prospects of customary law being officially recognised in the system.