A newly-released text detailing the violent frontier expansion of Australia's north is set to introduce readers to who led massacres of Aboriginal people, the names of their benefactors and how these horrific events occurred.

Written by Charles Darwin University Lecturer in Colonial History, Dr Robyn Smith, Licence to Kill: massacre men of Australia's north documents the massacres of Aboriginal people from 1824 until the 1980s.

Under the administration of the colonies of New South Wales and South Australia, massacres of Australia's First Peoples were a frequent occurrence during the 19th and 20th century.

In her text, Dr Smith reveals not only the perpetrators of massacres but their benefactors and enablers, both public and private.

She demonstrates how colonialism was subtly perpetuated by the bestowing of high civic honour on many perpetrators, noting that these are embedded as place names across much of the Australian landscape.

"It may surprise people to learn that police were not the principal perpetrators," Dr Smith said.

"They were most certainly involved, but there were too few of them to cover the Territory, and they were vastly under-resourced.

"Those circumstances facilitated relentless human hunting expeditions in the pursuit of land and profit."

The book is a product of Dr Smith's years of research on colonial frontier massacres across Australia's north, particularly in the Northern Territory, as part of the University of Newcastle's Colonial Frontier Massacres mapping team, led by the late Professor Lyndall Ryan.

Published by the Historical Society of the Northern Territory Inc, Licence to Kill: massacre men of Australia's north will be launched at Charles Darwin University's Casuarina campus on Tuesday, June 18 at 1pm.

The text is available via the Historical Society of the Northern Territory Inc website.