Ms Coe said she was surprised by the strength of the turnout in Newcastle, and said it was a sign of "a shift" in society that was long overdue after centuries of "oppression and suppression" of black and coloured people.

Despite concerns over COVID-19, tens of thousands of people gathered in cities across Australia on Saturday, including an estimated 5000 people in Newcastle.

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The protest began in Pacific Park and made its way west to Civic Park, growing along the way.

Floyd's death has triggered violence and chaos across the US but police said the Newcastle gathering was peaceful and incident free.

Speakers told the crowd: "This is a peaceful gathering, violence is not acceptable, violence is what brought us here."

At Pacific Park, the crowd knelt in solidarity and reflection, but the quiet gave way to demands for justice and change as chants of "Black Lives Matter" thundered through the streets as thousands marched to Civic Park.

Indigenous man Brian Dowd - known as "The People Mechanic" - told the crowd: "Our culture is a gift but it's not being received.

"We're treated like worthless garbage. We've got to change everything. Black lives matter. My life matters. Our lives matter. But all lives are not being treated the same way."

The Coe family have been prominent Aboriginal activists for generations and Ms Coe said "we are reliving and repeating something our ancestors fought for".

She said people needed to keep protesting, and keep challenging the status quo, if they wanted to end "the racist agenda grounded in the establishment of the colony 200 years ago, and formalised into Australian policy today".

Newcastle police commander Superintendent Brett Greentree, whose officers reported it as the biggest demonstration in the city for many years, including any of the climate change protests.

Superintendent Greentree said his officers estimated the crowd at about 3500 people in Pacific Park, with another 1000 joining the march along King Street and meeting 500 more at Civic Park.

He said Newcastle police had opposed the rally on COVID-19 grounds but a last-minute Supreme Court appeal decision that overturned a ban on the Sydney rally helped calm "a charged environment".

Ms Coe said the team discussed being blamed if an outbreak was linked to the rally but said deaths in custody, unlike COVID, "will not stop".

Superintendent Greentree said about 50 police had been on hand for the Newcastle rally and despite some "anti-police sentiment" in the crowd, he was proud of the "professional attitude" of the officers involved.

But things turned ugly in Sydney on Saturday afternoon when police used pepper spray on protesters at Central Station, a tactic they later defended.

Prominent federal government front bencher Matthias Cormann also courted controversy when he described rally protesters around the country as "selfish, reckless and irresponsible" given the COVID risks.

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