SYDNEY: A United Nations envoy slammed Australia's military-led crackdown on remote Aboriginal communities and said racism was "entrenched" in the country in a damning assessment on Thursday.

UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights James Anaya said the so-called "intervention", in which thousands of troops and police were sent to help curb alcohol-fuelled sexual abuse and domestic violence, was clearly discriminatory.

He urged the government to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the Northern Territory and called for compensation for the Stolen Generations of Aboriginal children, taken from their parents to promote racial integration.

"It undermines the right of indigenous peoples to control their own destinies, their right to self-determination," Anaya, referring to the intervention, told reporters in Canberra.

"There is entrenched racism in Australia," he added. "These measures overtly discriminate against Aboriginal peoples, infringe their right of self-determination and stigmatise already stigmatised communities."

Under the intervention, the conservative government of ex-prime minister John Howard slapped restrictions on welfare payments, alcohol and pornography in 73 desert townships and introduced measures to boost school attendance.