Amnesty International expressed alarm on Friday at reports the Northern Territory government is planning a new wave of child removals in what the human rights group described as "a desperate attempt to be seen to be doing something about the chronic under-funding of therapeutic programs for young people in the Territory".

Amnesty International Australia Indigenous Rights lead campaigner, Maggie Munn, said the "latest knee-jerk move" has "deeply traumatic echoes" of the Howard government intervention which began in 2007.

"Rather than looking to address the underlying causes of the behaviour - intergenerational trauma, poverty, lack of housing and services - this proposal about which we have very few details seeks once again to punish the most vulnerable in our community," she said.

"We have written to the Minister to urgently seek details of the plan.

"Of course, the concerns in the community are valid, but we must protect both Aboriginal children and the broader community in Alice Springs. However, government systems dealing with child protection and youth justice have repeatedly failed Aboriginal families."

Late on Wednesday the Northern Territory government flagged the plan to remove children from their families if they're found unsupervised late at night on the streets of Alice Springs.

Under the plan being considered by the government, young people picked up by police could be taken for a child protection assessment instead of being returned home.

Ms Munn said First Nations communities need lasting solutions led by the communities themselves, with appropriate support from the government.

"Solutions that allow children to thrive, not expose them to a never-ending cycle of trauma, harm and violence," she said.

"There are already community-led programs doing great work addressing these issues, but they need the long-term backing and funding of the government for a chance to make a sustained, long-term change.

"It isn't easy, but we have to move past these Band-Aid solutions that don't address the issues, and end up harming the young kids who need our help the most."

Police and Territory Families Minister Kate Worden said the government was working through "legal issues" with the plan.

"We are working to make sure that we can legally have an intervention to take those young people into a safe environment, and then make some Territory Families follow-up interventions," she told the ABC.

"Instead of taking a young person home, when they may have already been returned home but have come out again, that the police are empowered to make the right decision around care and protection of that young person."

The plan, which would see young people on the streets of Alice Springs at night, or those arrested by police, assessed for child protection orders based on "neglect", was flagged after five children under 14 were arrested early on Wednesday for allegedly stealing three cars and driving dangerously through the town's centre.

Minister Worden did not say what kind of facility would be used to accommodate the children during the assessment or how long they would be removed from their families.

"What we need to make sure is that those parents in Alice Springs understand fully that if their young people are out at night time, [and] if they're returned to them, the next time that may not happen," she said.