Federal Shadow Minister for Indigeous Australians, Kerrynne Liddle, has defended the cashless debit card and stressed the need for practical, immediate solutions to Closing the Gap.

Senator Liddle told National Indigenous Times that policy decisions "that have implications for our most vulnerable citizens must be based on evidence not ideology".

"(Opposition Leader) Sussan Ley… has made it clear that all policies taken to the previous election will be reviewed by the party room. This includes those within the portfolio of Indigenous Australians.

"The University of Adelaide's Report into the removal of the Cashless Debit Card made clear the 'perceived impacts of CDC cessation were mostly negative and centred around financial management, alcohol and gambling misuse, child wellbeing and welfare, and safety and violence'.

"When the PM ended the Cashless Debit Card, there was also an associated increase in harm to vulnerable people in those communities. Despite investing $250 million in Central Australia to make it better and safer, the township is yet to show dividends."

Senator Liddle told National Indigenous Times Prime Minister Anthony Alabanese failed to "keep Australians safe" when alcohol restrictions were lifted in the NT.

"In Alice Springs domestic violence assaults increased by 77 per cent in the following month."

The Arrernte Senator for South Australia noted that one in five people in the NT are on some form of income management, and the federal government "must come clean" on any plans to completely abolish income management.

National Indigenous Times has contacted NACCHO, SNAICCC and APONT for comment.

In separate comments made to The Australian, Senator Liddle said sound ­Indigenous policy begins with ensuring down good services to the nation's most ­vulnerable communities.

Senator Liddle renewed Coalition calls for a government crackdown on service providers in Aboriginal communities, arguing that too many of organisations were not accountable to their Aboriginal clients or to the taxpayer.

The Senator noted that Australia's most vulnerable citizens were not all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and there are many Indigenous people doing well in business without government assistance.

"I'm talking about making sure that we actually recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are a cohort in the Australian community but not everyone in that cohort identifies or is defined by the same parameters," she told The Australian.

"It is disingenuous to suggest that every Aboriginal person is impoverished because that is not true. There are many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working well and effectively in organisations."

The Senator said Indigenous people in remote communities did not speak to her about a rights-based approach to Indigenous affairs but the need for immediate practical help.

She told The Australian her approach to Indigenous affairs would be "localised".

"I will ask what is it that people actually need? And at the front of that is those frontline services," she said.

"We need better accountability of governance in those services that deliver to the most vulnerable people whether they are Indigenous or (not)."

Senator Liddle said she will pursue the federal government over child-protection systems. While the systems are run by states and territories, the Commonwealth, as the funder of the services and a signatory to the Closing the Gap agreement, has a responsibility to address the over-representation of Indigenous children in state care.

Noongar and Yamatji academic Renae Isaacs-Guthridge said the implication truth-telling efforts by Aboriginal leaders and organisations aim to portray all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as disadvantaged was disingenuous.

"On the contrary, these efforts seek to illuminate the historical and structural conditions that continue to affect our families and communities – including intergenerational trauma, land dispossession, systemic racism and policy failure. Recognising this truth is not a denial of strength, success, or resilience. It is a demand for justice and meaningful reform," she wrote in an opinion piece.

Ms Isaacs-Guthrie said Senator Liddle should recognise truth-telling and Aboriginal leadership "as foundational to a just, inclusive and effective approach to Indigenous affairs", and defended Indigenous-led organisations.

"The suggestion that Aboriginal organisations are broadly unaccountable is not only unfair but undermines decades of work by community-controlled organisations who are best placed to deliver culturally appropriate, effective services. These organisations operate under intense scrutiny, often with limited funding and increasing compliance burdens," she said.