A coalition of organisations have urged the Northern Territory government to rethink their decision to lower the age of criminal responsibility, arguing they will only negatively impact community safety.

With legislation to lower the age, as well as amendments to bail laws - including the reintroduction of breach of bail as an offence - set to be introduced to NT parliament this week, Indigenous community groups, law and justice experts and frontline services called for an eleventh-hour rethink.

The Coalition of Voices on Justice said the government should invest in proven preventative and diversion programs, and highlighted the Territory is a signatory to the Aboriginal Justice Agreement (AJA), which upholds a commitment to reduce Aboriginal incarceration in the NT.

"These legislative reforms will have the opposite effect, making it impossible for the NT to meet its commitment to the Closing the Gap targets for reducing prison rates," the Coalition of Voices on Justice said.

The CLP have been steadfast in their commitment to addressing crime, arguing decisions like lowering the age and introducing 'wanding laws' form part of their electoral mandate.

On Tuesday, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said her government made "no apologies for our swift and decisive action" in combating crime.

However, experts believe the decisions will have the opposite effect, with crackdowns on youth crime seen by experts as a reason to generate good media coverage rather than making a real difference to communities.

Even when presented with distressing information about young children in custody via a report by the NT Child Commissioner on Friday, Ms Finocchiaro told the ABC her government remained committed to lowering the age.

"Ignoring young people who commit crimes is not the answer to turning their life around," she said.

Smarter Justice for Safer Communities ambassador, Leeanne Caton, said the NT can't continue to rely on incarceration as a solution to the entrenched social and economic disadvantage which drive offending rates.

"It's not too late to step away from these regressive laws," the Kalkadoon woman said.

"The NT already locks up more children than ever and this tired, old prison-first approach has repeatedly failed to reduce crime or make our community safer."

She argued time spent in prison is a "gateway" to a future of reoffending and more time incarcerated.

"Even for those who are found to be innocent," she said.

"Keeping large numbers of people in prison on remand – with no access to services or support to address the root cause of their issues – leads to a cycle of offending and poses a serious risk to community safety."

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.

Human Rights Law Centre spokesperson Nick Espie said prisons, along with police watch houses and court cells, were already overcrowded, with remand wait times doubling in the past decade.

"The NT Government's changes will only make things worse for children and young people," Mr Espie said.

"The system is already buckling, but the problem is not First Nations children."

Travis Borsi, Northern Territory Director of 54 reasons - which delivers Save the Children's services in Australia - said whilst it was evident the system needed to change, incarcerating children isn't the answer.

"Primary school children should not have to pay the price for a broken youth justice system that does more harm than good," he said.

"Punitive, tough on crime policies do not work to keep the community safe, and instead perpetuate trauma within the community and keep young kids cycling through a system that is built to fail them."

Northern Territory Council of Social Service chief executive Sally Sievers urged the government to listen to experts and community voices.

"The prison-first approach will mean we are locking up more Territorians in prison and away from the sorts of programs and services that make a real difference in helping turn lives around," she said.