The Northern Territory Government's social housing changes are "deeply concerning", a coalition of groups says, arguing evictions will only push more vulnerable people into homelessness while also increasing crime.

Last month, the Country Liberal Party said it would be cracking down on "anti-social behaviour in public housing", introducing a three-strikes system to "hold tenants accountable and keep communities safe".

"The days of public housing tenants racking up endless red cards for anti-social behaviour with little or no consequence are over," said Housing Minister Steve Edgington.

"Under Labor, tenants could repeatedly breach the rules with few repercussions. That changes today."

The Northern Territory has the highest rate of homelessness in the country, at almost 12 times the national average. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up 87 per cent of the Territory's homeless population.

Waitlists for public housing can be as long as ten years in parts of the Territory.

In an open letter to Mr Edgington, Aboriginal and women's legal groups, as well as land councils, argued that much of the conduct labelled anti-social behaviour is often the "product of domestic and family violence" and "lack of appropriate treatment".

"All too often, we see cultural differences unfairly labelled as anti-social behaviour," the organisations argue.

"We see too many complaints made simply because someone does not want to have Aboriginal neighbours. The proposed changes will embed and exacerbate these problematic attitudes, rather than build respect and cohesion."

They added: "Evicting a family does not address domestic violence, overcrowding or poverty. It removes the family's home and moves the problematic behaviour elsewhere, usually into homelessness, another crowded house or the NT's overstretched health system."

There remains chronic underfunding of services to help people with mental illness and those who have experienced domestic violence, advocates say. The new CLP reforms will only push more vulnerable people into homelessness, the open letter argues.

"Our people move between community and town for health care, family and ceremony, staying with relatives because there are not enough houses in either place," Northern Land Council CEO Yuseph Deen said.

"Punishing tenants for meeting their cultural obligations to family will not fix overcrowding, but building the remote housing that has been promised for years will."

North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) CEO Ben Grimes said it is "dishonest" to label the proposed reforms as a crackdown on antisocial behaviour.

"Laws that allow people to lose their homes need clear definitions, a real right of review and proper scrutiny by a tribunal," he said. "These proposals fall short on all three, and vulnerable families and the legal assistance sector will be left dealing with the consequences."

In its media statement, the CLP Government said all allegations of anti-social behaviour will be "assessed and investigated in accordance with principles of natural justice".

"The policy also includes Acceptable Behaviour Agreements for those who reach two strikes," the government said. "Importantly, tenants who are victims of domestic and family violence will not be penalised for behaviour or property damage arising from that victimisation."

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The NT Government came under fire this year for closing the YiSSA short-stay accommodation facility — Darwin's largest homeless shelter — and moving residents 100 kilometres away to Batchelor. The closures prompted Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy to argue that the "cruel decision" would have a "devastating impact" on the lives of people in need.

Citing the YiSSA eviction, the organisations said the anti-social behaviour move was the "latest step in an escalating attack on social housing tenants, who are some of the most vulnerable people in our community".

"The mark of a strong government is one which governs with compassion and care for all Territorians, not division and fear," they wrote in the letter.

They called on the government to abandon the "short-sighted" reforms and work with community services to "develop an effective, evidence-backed and adequately resourced approach to sustaining social housing tenancies".