The Victoria Maori Wardens in Melbourne have been invited to patrol inner-city streets with the local police.
They have been asked to join officers on Friday night to help curb the number of Maori teenagers getting into trouble with the law.
State police figures from 2011 show assaults and petty crime committed by New Zealand-born rangatahi (young people), including Maori, is rising.
Victoria Maori Wardens chairperson James Hohepa Smith says patrolling the streets is about talking to rangatahi, getting to know them and trying to get to the core of their problems.
