The debate over Closing the Gap and government accountability continues to rage in federal parliament, with the opposition claiming the "terrible outcomes" for Indigenous people are "only getting worse under Labor".

Last week, the federal government was criticised for partnering with the Greens to scrap dedicated Senate estimates hearings on Indigenous affairs. Estimates allow senators to question ministers and senior officials about government spending and performance.

In the Senate on Tuesday, Opposition spokesperson for Indigenous Australians Kerrynne Liddle asked why the government had "shut the door on accountability by removing a standalone day for cross-portfolio Indigenous matters at the next supplementary budget estimates".

Her comments followed remarks on Monday, when she argued the removal of scrutiny came "when we're seeing the greatest failure in Indigenous Australians' portfolio areas".

In response, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy rejected "outright" accusations that there were no opportunities to question the government on Closing the Gap.

"In fact, the Senate now has multiple opportunities to ask questions on Closing the Gap. They can go and ask questions on health, in terms of the health minister's role. They can ask about housing in the housing minister's role," she said.

"This matter is so serious in terms of First Nations people in this country. What is shameful here today is the politicising by the opposition when they have a very real opportunity to do their job and actually attend all of the estimates every single day to ask the very questions that First Nations people in this country expect of this parliament."

On Monday, she also criticised the opposition for being "silent" on the nearly 50 per cent of people — mostly Aboriginal — held on remand in the NT, and on reports that a WA police officer laughed before the suicide of an Indigenous prisoner.

"For those who are genuinely interested in seeing improvement in First Nations people's lives in this country, then work with me," she said.

The March federal budget disrupted the usual estimates process because of the election campaign. While the government added an extra sitting week, it did not initially restore a dedicated day for "cross-portfolio" issues, which often include regional and Indigenous matters.

Over the weekend, the government announced three additional hearing days at the end of the year. The revised sitting calendar has supplementary budget estimates from 7 to 10 October, with a second round scheduled from 1 to 4 December.

"In this round of supplementary budget estimates, Indigenous issues will be a part of every day of estimates," a government spokesperson said.

"Closing the Gap is a whole-of-government responsibility. It's the responsibility of every Secretary and Minister to improve outcomes for First Nations Australians."

Some in the opposition remain concerned that spreading hearings across multiple days could allow the government to deflect or delay scrutiny on certain issues. Government sources, however, argue that the structure allows for more detailed examination of specific matters affecting Indigenous Australians, rather than treating them only as part of a broad portfolio.

Closing the Gap data released in July showed only four of 19 targets are on track to be met. Outcomes continue to worsen in four key areas: adult imprisonment (Target 10); children in out-of-home care (Target 12); suicide (Target 14); and early childhood development across all five domains of the Australian Early Development Census (Target 4).

Discussing the data on Monday, Senator Liddle said it called for "practical action over symbolism" and "action over announcements".

"It calls for greater scrutiny not just of the Labor government, its policies and how they've contributed to this terrible outcome, but also of the bureaucrats and the programs that are delivered."

Senator McCarthy said responsibility must be shared across all levels of government.

"We've got to insist that every single cabinet across Australia and every minister that sits around those cabinet tables is responsible," she said in the Senate. "We need to make sure that every minister, every cabinet secretary and every bureaucrat that works behind them is questioned appropriately on these targets..."