A total of 51 former and current WA Aboriginal police officers and employees have been recognised at the inaugural Aboriginal Service Medal ceremony, which capped off Reconciliation Week events.

Key points: WA Police launched its Reconciliation Action Plan earlier this week

WA Police launched its Reconciliation Action Plan earlier this week New Aboriginal Service Medals have been described as 'powerful symbols'

New Aboriginal Service Medals have been described as 'powerful symbols' The police force plans to boost the number of Aboriginal officers among its ranks

Many of the officers gathered acknowledged that being Indigenous and a member of WA Police came with challenges, but they spoke of a changing culture and of hope that future Aboriginal employees would have a better go of it.

Broome-based community relations officer Monica Lee was one of three auxiliary officers awarded the medal for her work with Indigenous communities in the Kimberley.

Ms Lee described her role as bridging the gap between police and Aboriginal communities.

"We don't have to have any ice breakers, we don't have any introduction, we're connected already so we're in right away," she said.

"We have the welcoming and the support of the community which is fantastic and for us it's about working the two laws together to get the best outcome for the individual, their families, the community and the police."

"I'm proud to be both an Aboriginal strong woman of the community but also to wear the blue uniform."

Detective Senior Constable Nathan Hansen said reconciliation needs to start from inside the agency. ( ABC News: James Carmody )

Another recipient, the Fraud Squad's Detective Senior Constable Nathan Hansen, said being Aboriginal in the police force had been challenging but the culture was improving.

"I've seen challenges as a junior constable, all the way through to where I am now, but I'm more than happy to accept challenges and take them on — and if I can help educate in any way I will," he said.

"We need to start inside and work it out and once we show the outside that we've got the workings going well within our own agency I can see people getting on board."

Senior Constable Hansen said he was able to help improve relations by sharing his culture with non-Aboriginal co-workers.

"It's just through teaching my non-Aboriginal officers what Noongar culture is, being a proud Noongar man but without knowing everything about my culture myself," he said.

"Just teaching them about kinship, about the respect of elders, maybe the issues that are underlying some of the families, and even a bit of language.

"I only know a little bit, but if I'm able to help my non-Indigenous officers speak a little bit, which may help them communicate, I'm always proud to do that."

'My dad wasn't too happy'

Another recipient, Sergeant Laura Russ APM, told ABC Radio Perth's Focus program that her childhood in Derby, in WA's Kimberley, was far from what is typical of most of her co-workers.

"I came from an environment where we basically had free range after school and could go and do what we wanted, so we would be out in the bush walking around, having fun, fishing, hunting doing all of that kind of stuff," she said.

"Then I came down to boarding school down here and I had to wear shoes, and I had to wear stockings, so it was a real shock for me because I had no family down here.

"Where I lived it was so remote that we didn't have a telephone, and we didn't have TV, so it was very hard to contact my parents when I needed something."

Sergeant Russ said her family were concerned when she decided to head to the police academy following boarding school.

Sergeant Laura Russ APM is one of the first recipients of the WA Police Aboriginal Service medal. ( ABC News: James Carmody )

"My dad wasn't too happy, he was obviously very cautious because of his experiences [with police]," she said.

"He was worried at the same time because he knew that it was going to be a very rough, tough, hard job — especially for someone being from where I was from — and being female as well in a male-dominated work environment, which it was back in the 90s."

Of the group of 185 that Sergeant Russ went through the academy with, she was one of just 16 women facing what she said was a very paramilitary-like environment.

To the surprise of her squad leader she passed, and started a career which has seen her work throughout the state in dozens of roles.

Policing has taken Sergeant Russ from Perth to numerous regional centres, as well as the homicide squad and newly formed Aboriginal Affairs Division.

Reconciliation plan launched

The medal ceremony capped off the WA Police Reconciliation Week events, which began with the launch of their Reconciliation Action Plan and a Dandjoo — which is the Noongar word for gathering — of most of the Force's 180 Aboriginal officers.

One of the measures in the plan is to boost the number of Aboriginal officers among the WA Police ranks.

Sergeant Russ said she met a number of bright young officers at the Dandjoo and said she was confident they were part of a modern police force where racism was becoming a thing of the past.

"I'm happy that that's happening because I do not want any of them to experience what I've experienced in my career, and there has been significant changes in WA Police in that area," she said.

"I'm so happy for them because they have got a journey where they're equivalent to everybody else in policing and my goals and dream is to see an Aboriginal commissioner."

WA Police Constable Tiarna Eades said her background helps her relate to people on the job. ( Supplied: WA Police )

Tiarna Eades, a 21-year-old Constable at Rockingham Police Station, was one of the young officer Ms Russ spoke of.

Ms Eades told ABC Radio Perth racism was something she encountered in the workplace, but not from her co-workers.

"It's mainly from people that I deal with, but they're obviously in a different state of mind and in a different time in their lives so I don't take it personally," she said.

"But no-one that I've worked with so far has ever said anything like that to me, I think because it's 2019 and we're starting to get a little bit more familiar with racism and stuff like that, especially in the workplace."

"I just don't think it's like it used to be, and I'm quite grateful for that. Obviously I experienced it when I was younger, but never in a workplace environment.

"A lot of people are very supportive of me being Aboriginal and a female."

Commissioner Chris Dawson said the Aboriginal flag would be flown outside every police station in the state. ( ABC News: Lindsay Brennan )

Ms Eades was among one of the first people to go through WA Police's Aboriginal cadet program and after graduating from the academy in mid-2018, started as a traffic officer before becoming a patrol inquiry officer in Rockingham.

Ms Eades said she has had mixed reactions from Aboriginal friends and family to her joining the police.

"My mum and dad were always really supportive, my mum was more worried about what I endure on a day-to-day basis, carrying a [gun] and a taser and dealing with people who are anti-police," she said.

"It was never an issue of me being Aboriginal and being on that side of the fence."

"But my extended family, I've lost a lot of relationships with them because they weren't happy with the fact that I chose to be a police officer, which is fine because at the end of the day it's my choice."

'A real proud moment'

Commissioner Dawson opened Reconciliation Week by announcing the Aboriginal flag would now be flown outside every police station in the state.

Head of the newly formed Aboriginal Affairs Division, Brian Wilkinson, said while the flag is symbolic, it is a powerful symbol.

"For Indigenous people when they see the flag being raised, when they see the reconciliation action plan, when they see us in our uniform embracing Indigenous cultures, when they walk into police stations and see officers like Tiarna and Laura and myself, it's a place where there's a few more brown faces inside," he said.

WA Police Superintendent Brian Wilkinson heads up the newly formed Aboriginal Affairs division. ( ABC News: James Carmody )

Mr Wilkinson said for those within the force, the Aboriginal Service Medal would be another powerful symbol.

"I've predominately worked in Aboriginal-populated towns and they were very challenging," he said.

"I was in Roebourne after John Pat, Geraldton after the Marine Terrace riots, Laverton with the substance abuse, so winning the hearts and minds of police officers on better ways in those locations isn't without difficulties.

"And bringing them across the line to see those outcomes is, for me, a real proud moment."

"I didn't expect any day to be recognised for that."