An off-duty Aboriginal police officer will escape criminal charges for throwing rocks at a wombat on South Australia's west coast.

Key points: A video showing Senior Community Constable Waylon Johncock throwing rocks at a wombat went viral in October

A video showing Senior Community Constable Waylon Johncock throwing rocks at a wombat went viral in October Police conducted criminal and internal disciplinary investigations

Police conducted criminal and internal disciplinary investigations The officer will stay on in his job and will not face any criminal charges

The video of Yalata-based Senior Community Constable Waylon Johncock went viral in early October, prompting national outcry.

It showed him chasing a wombat along a dirt road in the Gawler Ranges and throwing rocks at it.

At the time, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens described the officer's behaviour as "totally abhorrent" and "unacceptable".

Police conducted parallel criminal and internal disciplinary investigations into the matter.

In a statement on Friday, Commissioner Stevens said the investigators established that as a "traditional Aboriginal man", he had an "appropriate permit to hunt wombats for food".

"Whilst distressing to many who viewed the video, it has been established that the senior community constable's actions were not inconsistent with traditional hunting practices," he said.

"I have been advised that the wombat in the video was killed and eaten.

"The video shown on social media was part of a longer video that has not been released."

He will also remain in his role with SA Police.

No prospect of conviction

The commissioner said legal advice provided to police by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions on Thursday found "there would be no reasonable prospect of a conviction" for any criminal offence.

Mr Stevens said the officer has been provided "managerial advice and counselling regarding the implications of social media".

Mr Johncock celebrates after the wombat stops moving. ( Facebook: Wombat Awareness Organisation )

"The senior community constable is well-regarded and respected by his colleagues, peers, supervisors, managers and the local community in which he serves," he said.

"I have confidence in his abilities to perform his current role as a community constable."

Despite this, he said he stood by his original reaction to the video as "confronting".

"I stand by my reaction to the treatment of the wombat," Mr Stevens said.

"I still find some of the content of the video disturbing — I take personal displeasure in seeing any animal distressed, or being killed as the wombat was killed.

"I know many shared in my shock and dismay. I gave a public undertaking there would be a robust and thorough investigation, and that I would provide advice regarding the outcome of that investigation."

Wombats are common in South Australia, particularly on the state's west coast.

The wombat makes a final dash for safety. ( Facebook: Wombat Awareness Organisation )

Call for hunting laws to be reviewed

Both the RSPCA and Wombats SA called for the laws around Indigenous hunting to be reviewed.

The RSPCA's SA branch said "the use of inhumane methods to kill animals — whether for subsistence or not — is unacceptable".

Wombats SA president Peter Clements said SA Police's decision was "very disappointing but probably not unexpected".

"What we would like to see happen is a review of the dispensation that native people have to kill native animals that are otherwise protected," Mr Clements said.

"There's a loophole in the law for them, which I think the criteria for who's allowed to do that should be more strict or more based on proper traditional Aboriginal methods of hunting."

SA Environment Minister David Speirs said the Government would "continue to look at the broader issue of animal welfare to ensure community expectations are met".

"This was a very complicated matter with relevant Indigenous cultural considerations," he said.

The southern hairy-nosed wombat is South Australia's state fauna emblem. ( ABC Open contributor: Claire Marie )

Elders divided over wombat killing

Local Aboriginal elders were quick to defend Mr Johncock, who grew up in Port Lincoln and played football in the area and in Adelaide's SANFL.

His uncle, Port Lincoln-based Wirangu-Kokatha elder Jack Johncock, told ABC Eyre Peninsula throwing rocks at wombats was "one of many methods" local Aboriginal people used to kill them for food.

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"It's easy for people to sit back and judge people," he said.

"This has been part of our culture and the way we've gone about it for thousands of years.

"For the people of the west coast of South Australia, the wombat is a big part of their diet and they'll get wombat any way they can."

However, Major "Moogy" Sumner, a Ngarrindjeri elder, condemned the incident, telling the ABC that Mr Johncock and the man doing the filming were not showing the animal any respect.

"We didn't hunt like that. It may be their way, but it's not our way, and to run around and laugh about it and make a big joke out of it, that's wrong," he said.

An online petition calling for justice for the wombat attracted more than 350,000 signatures.

SA Police's Facebook post announcing the result of its investigation has attracted thousands of comments, very few of which supported its decision.