A bipartisan approach from both federal and state governments is needed to combat climate change in the Torres Strait, locals say.

Speaking at the announcement on Monday of Labor's $77 million in funding for seawall structures and waste infrastructure for the Torres Strait in a bid to help boost climate resilience, both the Torres Strait Island Regional Council (TSIRC) and Labor said the LNP Queensland government needs to come to the table.

Torres Strait communities have the highest risks and lowest adaptive capacities of any Indigenous community to combat climate change due to their isolation and limited access to support facilities, a report prepared for the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering, and Innovation Council found in 2007.

"In some cases, the Torres Strait islands are already at risk from inundation," it added.

TSIRC Mayor Phillemon Mosby said in the Torres Strait, "Climate change is real" and argued there is a "two-fold approach in addressing climate change".

"One is to build a sense of resilience and adaptation among First Nations people," he said.

"Finding the balance between traditional knowledge and science, and how can we maintain people practising ongoing kinship and affiliation to land and sea Country.

"Secondly, it's about us, the longevity of our lifestyle in those vulnerable communities. By investing such funds like today, to build defence work, to address inundation and erosion in the Torres Strait."

Welcoming the funding, which will see $36.2 million over five years used to help fund Stage 3 of the Torres Strait Seawalls Program by offering additional engineering and seawall structures on five islands: Poruma, Iama, Masig, Warraber and Badu, Mr Mosby said it "ensures the preservation and maintenance of one of the oldest cultures in this world".

"What we are calling [for] today…is a bipartisan [approach]. The needs to be a whole of government approach for investment into the Torres Strait, its people and its strategic important role that it plays to this state and to this country Australia," he added.

Some LNP members including Cook MP David Kempton have already called for better water infrastructure, but Mr Mosby said he had yet to have contact with state MPs over what commitment they were offering.

"We would expect, regardless [of] what colour of government at state and Commonwealth, First Nations people are important agenda to Australia as a country," he said.

"One would think that those relationships and partnerships are in place at both state and Commonwealth."

Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, told reporters the funding for the seawalls was "absolutely critical," and called on the Crisafulli government to "join us to complete this".

"We have had previous Queensland government's work with us on stage one and two, and we certainly need that completion and that partnership with the Queensland government to be able to do that," she said.

"We would like the Queensland government to be at the negotiating table with us and we are urging them to come [to] the table so that we can actually start in terms of contracts and see this stage three begin by the end of the year."

The NT Senator previously took aim at the lack of action towards climate change from the Coalition, highlighting former PM Scott Morrison bringing coal into Parliament, and then-immigration minister Peter Dutton, along with then-PM Tony Abbot and Mr Morrison being caught on a hot mic making light of rising sea levels in the region.

She told reporters on Monday climate change in the Pacific was concerning, with the evidence for all to see.

"When I went to Fiji, I spoke to people there about the issues and they were very concerned with the rising sea levels and the same in Vanuatu at the United Nations," Senator McCarthy said.

"We've had advocacy from Australia, in particular, the Torres Straits because of the concern of the rising sea levels."

Mr Mosby said the marina-heavy environment in the region meant infrastructure didn't have the lifespan of other areas of the Country, and the funding would be used to implement "critical to life infrastructure" around water and sewerage in remote parts of Australia that "people take for granted on the mainland".

"This is wonderful news and I'm really excited that Traditional Owners across the length and breadth of Zenadth Kes, Torres Strait, including Northern Peninsula Area, can have those important infrastructure replaced and that it doesn't pose further financial sustainability issues and concern to those local governments and those important services that's being provided in those remote communities," he said.