Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles and Attorney-General Chansey Paech will meet with Anthony Albanese in Canberra to discuss a report surrounding alcohol restrictions in Alice Springs ahead of crisis meetings with national cabinet later this week.
The report, from newly-appointed Central Australian Regional Controller Dorrelle Anderson, was handed to Ms Fyles and the Prime Minister on Wednesday, 1 February.
Ms Anderson is a former NT Australian of the Year finalist and the first Aboriginal woman to serve as executive director of the NT Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities' Southern Region.
Last week Mr Albanese defined her role as presenting back to the federal and territory governments to inform potential changes to alcohol restrictions in central Australia and coordinated programs moving forward.
The Prime Minister flagged a potential shift to implement opt-out procedure to restrictions for surrounding communities from the current opt-in measures introduced following the end to Stronger Future legislation last July, meaning active restrictions would be the default setting.
It comes after snap lockdowns on alcohol sales imposed around the Alice last week followed a series of meetings held by ministers with stakeholders in the town.
On Wednesday, the Territory's Chief Minister said the report would be made public, without confirming when, and that she would continue to keep the community informed as the matter progresses.
"We need to have long-term measures that allow us to have a safer community," Ms Fyles told reporters.
"I've been communicating regularly as I've said, we will get that report to the commonwealth, the actions that have been taken, and there's a number of them, (and) the proposals going forward."
"It will be made public but not in the next couple of days.
"People would appreciate that we are not taking a knee-jerk reaction that we're working through this thoroughly with the Commonwealth government."
Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney said she expects the report to give a full scope of the current situation and recommendations going forward.
Peak Indigenous bodies are calling on both levels of government to involve them in the next steps.
The Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory (APO NT) is seeking negotiations for a formal agreement between themselves, the Commonwealth, and Northern Territory governments on future policy, funding and the National Partnership on Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment.
APO NT spokesperson and Northern Territory Indigenous Business Network chief executive Jerome Cubillo said a broader focus is required.
"We need a significantly different policy and program focus based on the priorities of Aboriginal people, that supports the sustainability of communities and responds to the underlying social and economic issues," he said.
"There needs to be a greater Territory wide focus on critical priorities like youth support and community safety.
"Importantly, we also need to start backing Aboriginal led economies, business and jobs on Aboriginal Land."
Political and community leaders have noted complex issues running deeper than alcohol abuse are contributing factors driving crime.
Speaking to Radio National on Wednesday, Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT chief executive and APO NT spokesperson Dr John Patterson said he has observed a "lull in the situation" since the implementation of overnight measures last week, but warned "we're not out of the woods yet".
He said calls from groups and community leaders for a two-year exiting period at the end of Stronger Futures "fell on deaf ears" and the opportunity has been missed.
Mr Patterson hopes for extended community and stakeholder consultation before next steps are taken.
Mr Cubillo said a partnership effort "will help make lasting change for our communities and put the yo-yo interventionist approach to an end" and failures to move away from existing funding arrangements is unlikely to have buy-in on the ground.
He also implored governments to stop thinking about Alice Springs in isolation and adopt a Territory-wide approach.
It comes as reports emerge of town mayors across the NT asking for a coordinated response to alcohol restrictions.
"Every time a Territory government puts restrictions in one place, we have an influx of people trying to access alcohol in other places," Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis told the ABC.
"Putting restrictions here and there and everywhere is not going to solve the problem. It might stop it in one area, (but) it will pop up in another."
Katherine Mayor Lis Clark said she was supportive of blanket measures.
Crime rates have surged in other towns across the Territory during the same period in which the bulk of the focus has been on Alice Springs.
