Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are three times more likely to live with diabetes compared to non-Indigenous Australians.

This will be a priority at next year's International Diabetes Federation Western Pacific Region Congress in Naarm, the national peak body for the chronic diseases' lead for First Nations engagement says.

According to recent self-reported data, via the Australian Bureau of Statistics' 2018–19 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, around 7.9 per cent of First Nations Australians were living with diabetes. It's a troubling over-representation, with rates around three times as high to non-Indigenous Australians.

In the same period, more than one-third of Indigenous adults had diabetes, with significant increase in prevalence with increase in age.

Type 2 Diabetes is a crucial concern.

Broadly, Type 2 can be linked to lifestyle factors and development of the disease with age. Type 1 is often attributable to genetics.

In 2018-2019, diabetes accounted for 7.3 per cent of deaths among Indigenous Australians (8.7 per cent amongst females, and 6.1 per cent for males) with Type 2 a 'significant contributor to morbidity and mortality for Indigenous Australians', according to the Federal Government's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Network.

These rates were higher in remote areas of Australia.

It's a disease which is also preventable, Diabetes Australia national manager of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Engagement Deanne Minniecon told National Indigenous Times.

Ms Minniecon said some research indicates Indigenous adults in Central Australia have the highest rates of Type 2 Diabetes in the world.

Another study suggests around 40 per cent of Indigenous Adults in the region have been diagnosed with diabetes.

Diagnosis rates among younger age groups are "on the rise", some children as young as four receiving a diagnosis, with teenagers to people in their 20s having amputations, loss of eyesight, kidney failure and even death, Ms Minniecon said.

"It's an urgent issue," she said, needing to be addressed as soon as possible.

Environment factors regularly present in health statistics are to be considered, Ms Minniecon added, like access to nutritional food, water quality and local infrastructure - even available shade.

The impact of historical events, such as the displacement of Indigenous people from homelands and cultural food, and resulting introduction of refined and processed foods are also an ongoing factor, she told National Indigenous Times.

"We've got a really big issue around, how do we address this issue around type two diabetes...prevention is important, but the same programs you would deliver in prevention could support management as well. We can have all the programs in the world to manage diabetes, but if we do not have the environments to support people living with diabetes to manage it, then we're going to be challenged."

Earlier this week, it was announced the International Diabetes Federation Western Pacific Region Congress will be hosted at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in August next year.

"This Congress could not come at a more urgent time for Australians living with diabetes," Diabetes Australia group chief executive Justine Cain said.

"Globally, one person is diagnosed with diabetes every 3 seconds. In Australia, more than 300 people are diagnosed every day.

"Hosting this Congress sends a clear message: diabetes is a national and global health emergency, and we are committed to working with the world's best minds to deliver impact and innovation."

Ms Minniecon said diabetes in relation to First Nations Australians should be placed across "every single stream" at the Congress, and the intention is to it's addressed "so that everyone gets to listen, everyone gets to hear the issues that are presented from communities and from researchers and policy makers".

Intended priority extends to Māori and Pasifika communities, among other groups, who are also disproportionately impacted by the disease.

Diabetes Australia engage in initiatives in relation to Diabetes among Indigenous people, including policy efforts and "building the capacity of the Aboriginal and health workforce and communities to be able to deliver diabetes education," Ms Minniecon said.