Overt racism is bad enough, but it is unintentional insults that hurt young indigenous Australians the most, a United Nations youth representative says.
Melanie Poole, 23, of Turner, has talked to young people nationwide about the issues they find most pressing, along with fellow youth delegate Beth Shaw, of Western Australia.
They will present their findings to the UN General Assembly in New York in September, where they will represent Australian young people.
Ms Poole said the consultation showed her that racism was rife in regional and remote areas.
''People talk about it as being something they worry about, something they don't like to see.''
Racism was less overt than it used to be and was often unintentional.
She spoke to an indigenous girl in Darwin who had organised a forum on racism where speakers told the audience what they found offensive and non-indigenous people were shocked their actions had caused upset they hadn't realised they did.
Ms Poole said racism was sometimes to do with unfair labelling, like saying indigenous communities were ''full of alcoholics'' or ''full of sexual abuse''.
These kinds of generalisations filled young Aborigines with ''a sense of shame'' because the rate of sexual abuse was no higher in those areas than it was in non-indigenous communities in the same demographic.
Young Canberran people who have been consulted complained that Aboriginal studies were not at the core of school curriculums and expressed a desire to study local indigenous languages and learn about indigenous culture and law.
Other issues often raised included a lack of things to do in rural and remote areas, the desire for safer, non-commercial public spaces other than skate parks or basketball courts, and growing concern about global warming.
Ms Poole and Ms Shaw have sought young people's opinions in all kinds of places ''from going to a youth refuge and sitting down with a few teenagers who have run away from home to addressing thousands of girls' grammar students to camping with indigenous people in remote areas''.
The pair have met nine federal ministers and shadow ministers, including Minister for Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin and Minister for Youth Kate Ellis, to report their findings. The consultation concludes on August 20.