Redfern and 'The Block' - ready to go again....

Extra police armed with capsicum spray and accompanied by dogs were on alert in inner-Sydney Redfern as mourners prepared to march to mark the funeral of teenager Thomas Hickey.

The march was timed to coincide with Hickey's funeral in the NSW town of Walgett.

In Sydney, two arrests were made for minor offences in the area known as The Block, where mourners gathered in preparation for the 11am (AEDT) march, police said.

No further details were available.

Mourners were to march to a public housing complex in Philip St, where Hickey died when impaled on a fence.

The teenager's death sparked a riot at Redfern as Aborigines accused police of chasing him before the accident. Police deny pursuing him.

Following a vigil at the site, mourners planned to march to Redfern police station with a list of demands relating to the teenager's death.

The demands include the holding of a royal commission and the immediate standing down of police officers who mourners blame for Hickey's death.

Mourners were later to return to The Block for a wake.

Police said they hoped for a peaceful march, but extra officers would be on duty ahead of the mourners' arrival at the police station, a police spokeswoman said.

MsOlga - it seemed that the police presence helped ignite the rioting a few days ago - or at least it looked that way from accounts I read.

Aboriginal leaders presented Redfern police with 17 demands - one for every year of Thomas "TJ" Hickey's life - as more than 200 people marked the day of his funeral with a march through Redfern to the scene of his death.

The roller shutters on many of the shops in Redfern Street were half-closed in case of trouble yesterday but the tone of what organisers called a "grief and grievance" march was sombre and restrained.

At the Block, a small fire burned to commemorate TJ's life. "It will burn until after the funeral, to send the spirits of white men away," said Jack Morgan, who represented the Hickey family at the march.

Many in the Aboriginal community who did not make the trip to Walgett for yesterday's funeral walked the route. They were joined by members of the wider community, from bankers to students, who spoke of their frustration with how politicians and police had dealt with the riot.

Along the route police kept a low profile, but at Redfern police station marchers were confronted by lines of more than 40 special operations and general duties police, standing behind a crowd control barrier, blocking access to the station.