Former Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney says Aboriginal affairs under a Coalition federal government will be "disastrous".

Ms Burney, who announced a step away from politics at the upcoming federal election last year, sees recent commitment announcements from the Opposition leader as a warning sign.

"I see the dismantling of Aboriginal organisations," she said, if the Coalition is successful on election day - expected to be called for mid-April, "I see savage cuts to budgets".

"I see, from a symbolic point of view, the fact that Peter Dutton has said that he won't have the Aboriginal flag behind him says it all, ultimately," Ms Burney told National Indigenous Times on Tuesday.

In January, Mr Dutton announced he would remove the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags from press conferences if elected Prime Minister. He also said he would "work with" the NSW state government to remove the Aboriginal flag from the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Current Minister for Indigenous Affairs Malarndirri McCarthy slammed the idea.

Mr Dutton has also signalled a legislated Australia Day on January 26, an audit into spending on Indigenous programs - which are already audited on a case by case basis, and a Royal Commission into sexual abuse in Indigenous communities

Shadow minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who has also supported audits and a Royal Commission, has vocally campaigned for localised Indigenous-led solutions and rollback of government intervention.

Ms Burney told National Indigenous Times: "It's my very firm belief that Labor should be re-elected."

"Not just in the Aboriginal Affairs space, but you look at Medicare, you look at energy policy... cost of living measures we've put in place, including increasing the salary of some of the lowest paid workers in the country (and also) through childcare and aged care," she said.

Despite Labor's unsuccessful Voice referendum in 2023, Ms Burney is proud "we listened to the Aboriginal leadership and we had a crack" and stated her faith in Minister McCarthy in cabinet.

The merits of what a Voice to Parliament promised "have a future", Ms Burney added.

"People, particularly in the community, are still very distressed about the outcome of the referendum, but it wasn't the be-all and end-all of things. Those issues have certainly not gone away."

Treaty and truth-telling efforts remain amongst some states.

In Victoria, the First Peoples' Assembly have entered negotiations with the state Government while South Australia passed legislation for a state-based Voice to Parliament in 2023.

In the fallout of the referendum, NSW stepped back on their Treaty commitments, while the newly-elected LNP Queensland Government dissolved any future, repealing their Path to Treaty Act late last year.

The CLP Northern Territory government has also abandoned progress towards Treaty.

Speaking earlier on Tuesday at the Indigenous Suicide Prevention Forum in Sydney, Ms Burney labelled South Australia as a "shining light" nationally.

She told National Indigenous Times there were limits on what the federal government could do to encourage states and territories to pursue truth-telling and Treaty.

"We've got to be clear on what constitutional intervention and responsibilities are, it's not just a matter of intervening," she said.

"We've made it very clear that walking away from truth telling and treaties is not ideal, and it's not, but Aboriginal people have a long history of survival, and that won't change."

Ms Burney entered Canberra's House of Representatives as the first Indigenous woman to do so in 2016. It came after more than a decade in NSW's Parliament.

"I've been in the mainstream political arena from both the federal and state level for 22 years, and I hope I've made a good contribution," she said of a "bittersweet" retirement from politics.

"I see Aboriginal people standing for mainstream political positions. I have had some influence on that.

"You know you've made the right decision, but there are times when you think it's going to be hard to leave… overall I'm pretty satisfied."

She added a point of pride is the elevation of Aboriginal Affairs to "everyone's agenda".