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A woman was severely injured after police used batons and fists to disperse the small group of singing, dancing demonstrators. Several hundred police, including two divisions of riot police, were deployed in the incident.

The group consisted of peaceful protestors and included musicians and children. “We were given no warning and were not asked to leave before police charged.” Said one of the demonstrators. Members of the group were badly shaken after the event, and the severely injured woman was hospitalised with suspected broken ribs.

“We were singing and dancing at the front of the Melbourne Museum, as a non-violent way of publicly raising our concerns about the G20”, said one of the demonstrators. “Without warning we were baton-charged by heaps of cops. It was frightening, especially when a couple of busloads of riot police turned up afterwards.”

Police only called an ambulance to attend to the injured woman 10 minutes after the incident, despite repeated requests from members of the group.

Protesters afterwards attempted to disperse peacefully, but were followed for twenty minutes by a large police contingent.

Today's incident follows on from two days of protesting against the G20, a gathering of finance ministers, reserve bank governors and the heads of the IMF and World Bank.