The Northern Territory coroner has told an inquest into the death of an elderly Aboriginal man the actions of police could be viewed as "heavy-handed" but not "contemptuous".

Mr Young, whose first name has not been used for cultural reasons, died in hospital in March 2016, nearly a fortnight after falling and hitting his head shortly after an officer roused him from his sleep.

A coronial inquest was told the 70-year-old had been socialising with a group of people at a unit inside a housing complex in the Darwin suburb of Nightcliff.

The inquest is examining whether police acted within their powers and fulfilled their duty of care.

"There wasn't blood on the floor... no fights breaking out such as to give police the power to do what they wanted to do," Coroner Greg Cavanagh said.

"So to go in the way they did... is to some extent heavy-handed, but you couldn't categorise it as contemptuous.

Mr Young was not doing anything wrong at the time of the incident, but police and paramedics attended because a woman residing at the property had asked them to leave.

The inquest heard Mr Young's family held concerns the officer responded in the manner they did because he was Aboriginal.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Tony Fuller took offence to the suggestion of racial stereotyping, but told the inquest he understood why the family would think that "because police come into contact with Aboriginal people quite regularly".

Police 'would have been criticised' if they did not act

On Monday, the officer in charge of the investigation into Mr Young's death, Detective Senior Sergeant Daniel Ralph, said officers may not have been acting lawfully, but only on a "purely technical point of law".

Mr Fuller today conceded police had "no power" to wake him and said it was a "failing" of the Trespass Act.

He said the act was "obviously very problematic", was not relied upon because of "all these ambiguities" and that he would "welcome any changes".

However, Mr Fuller told the inquest officers "had an obligation for Mr Young's care" and acted in good faith in speaking to him, to determine whether he had a "lawful reason to be there".

Counsel Assisting the Coroner, Kelvin Currie, said there needed to be a better understanding for frontline officers who found themselves in similar scenarios, and possible legislative changes.

He told the inquest no changes could result in more litigation.

"The duty of care was not fulfilled in this case," Mr Currie said.

"Waking an elderly man who had been drinking, inside a dark room... was not going to end well."

Mr Fuller said the housing complex was "not a nice place" and was "renowned for anti-social, alcohol and drug-fuelled violence".

The inquest heard Mr Young was a supportive person and much-loved by his community.