The Northern Territory's Child Commissioner has called for all children to be treated with respect, dignity, and care as the new Chief Minister pushes ahead with plans to lower the age of criminal responsibility and bring back spit hoods in youth detention.

On Friday, the Territory's Child Commissioner, Larrakia woman and former Crown Prosecutor and defence lawyer Shahleena Musk, said she acknowledged the serious concern from NT residents surrounding crime.

"However, this does not permit the use of ineffective youth justice responses that will cause further harm to children and more likely reinforce the very behaviours we are seeking to change," she said.

"I am deeply concerned about the proposed changes to lower the age of criminal responsibility and re-introduction of spit hoods."

In the two weeks since their election victory in the NT, the CLP and Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro have forged on with their pre-election plan to enact 'tough on crime' measures - despite calls from the peak medical and legal bodies in the country to raise the age to 14-years-of-age - as well as bringing back spit hoods - considered torture Amnesty International - and enact "Declan's Law", whereby offenders categorised as violent are automatically remanded to jail with a presumption against bail.

The Chief Minister told ABC RN on Friday that "you need to put yourself in the shoes of the frontline worker".

"So, what we've said is that modern spit guards should be able to be used by police and corrections officers for young people," she said.

"Now we have a crime crisis in the Territory, and our frontline workers are being insulted at extraordinary levels. So, the use of modern spit guards in this highly regulated environment provides an additional layer of protection for those people who've done the wrong thing and continue to make choices about dangerous and disgusting, degrading behaviour of spitting on frontline workers."

Asked about the horrifying images of spit hoods being placed on children, Ms Finocchiaro said: "If you don't spit, you don't get a spit guard."

Commissioner Musk said "Irrespective of whether these devices are called spit hoods or spit guards, they are proven to cause irreparable harm and must not be used on children".

"We must acknowledge the children who are in contact with the youth justice system have often experienced significant trauma, may be living with disability and have serious mental health needs," she said.

"A punitive criminal justice response is not the answer, we must instead focus on the health and developmental needs of these very vulnerable children."

Multiple organisations have criticised the call to lower the age to 10, arguing it will do nothing to reduce crime, instead exacerbating it and making the community less safe in the future.

While noting children aged 10 should "absolutely not" be dealt with the same as an adult, Ms Finocchiaro said the lowering of the age allowed the government to "make sure that young people who are falling into a life of crime can be diverted into a better pathway".

She said raising the age would mean not being able to place children in rehabilitative programs, such as boot camps.

"It also means you can't hold parents accountable. So, we're much more focused on accountability for the young person and the family, and around delivering meaningful consequences that give that young person an opportunity to have a better future going forward," Ms Finocchiaro said.

The NT Police Commissioner recently apologised for actions of the NT police towards Aboriginal people, with many arguing they have been targeted by police - both in and out of incarceration - disproportionately.

Currently, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people aged 14-17 are incarcerated at a higher rate in the NT than anywhere else in the country, whilst the latest Closing the Gap data saw eight metrics failing to improve - the worst jurisdiction in the country.

Commissioner Musk said she had written to the Chief Minister, seeking a meeting to discuss the proposed positions as well as the impact they will have on vulnerable children.

"As required by my statutory responsibilities, it is my expectation that the incoming Government would seek advice on the potential implications of any policy or legislative reform that relates to vulnerable children," she said.

"The human rights of children must be respected."