Prominent members of Tasmania's Aboriginal community have highlighted the importance of the state's proposed Aboriginal Youth Justice Engagement Strategy, the consultation period for which opened this week.

Have your say on the Tasmanian Aboriginal Youth Justice Strategy (TAYJS) aims to start community discussion and develop strategies to address the over-representation of Aboriginal children and young people in Tasmania's youth justice system.

Following the consultation's launch on Tuesday, Melaythenner Teeackana Warrana Aboriginal Corporation (MTWAC) chair Nick Cameron, who also chairs the Tasmanian Regional Aboriginal Communities Alliance (TRACA), told National Indigenous Times "it's such an important consultation process... we can't get it wrong".

The Pairrebeene/Trawlwoolway man said the community consultation follows dialogue between TRACA and the government on Tasmania's Closing the Gap Implementation Plan.

"When we first looked at that implementation plan a couple of key areas were pretty light on or even missed off completely as a priority area," Mr Cameron said.

"Justice, education and employment were the three main key initiatives that weren't very strongly represented in the in the initial plan.

"So TRACA's worked very hard in improving that, making them priority areas and certainly justice and youth justice especially is a very high priority."

Mr Cameron said "there has to be a very clear linkage" between outcomes from the TAYJS community consultation period and the implementation plan for Closing the Gap.

He also said broad community consultation is integral.

"The justice department and bureaucracy has has to work collaboratively with all Aboriginal groups around Tasmania," he said.

"Not just a peak partner group or peak bodies, it has to work individually with all organisations."

Mr Cameron said organisations and communities "need to be supported to be able to do on the ground support activities" to prevent young mob from entering the justice system.

"So they've [Aboriginal youth] got to be in programs that hopefully prevent people from getting trapped within the justice system," he said.

"Because once they're in there, it's very hard to change behaviour."

Uncle Rodney Dillon echoed Mr Cameron's calls for the consultation period to better identify intervention and community support programs for the state's Aboriginal youth.

An Indigenous advisor to Amnesty International Australia, Mr Dillon has dedicated his life to rights for Indigenous peoples across the nation including consulting on facilities including the Northern Territory's Don Dale Youth Detention Centre, Western Australia's Banksia Hill Youth Detention Centre, and Queensland's Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.

"At the moment [we're] talking about Aboriginal-led solutions to make change… because we've been doing this for a long time, and we haven't got it right," Mr Dillon told National Indigenous Times.

"And it's got worse. So we're talking about how do we make it more accountable? How do we stop kids from going into the crime, the quicksand of crime?"

Mr Dillon said the most important priority must be "stopping kids from staying in that [justice] system".

"If kids do get in the system, we've got to do everything possible to stop them from coming back into it," he said.

"Recidivism is so high in this all around the country, not just here, and if we can break that recidivism, and… if kids do get into trouble, try and address it with the kid, the family."

Mr Dillon said when young people enter the justice system "it's very hard for them to get out".

"So we've got to develop things that [are] going to stop kids from staying in this system, and help them get away from this, address the issues that the kids got to get into it, and then see how we go from there," he said.

Mr Dillon commended parliament for showing initiative in adopting a preventative Aboriginal youth justice model ahead of other jurisdictions where governments "got in on saying we're going to lock up more kids".

"In Tasmania it's unique here because both sides of government, and I give them both credit and the Greens for this as well, are all on side on making change," he said.

"All sides of government are saying 'we need to address the issues these kids have got', because locking them up is not the answer."

On Thursday, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service (TALS) also welcomed the development of the TAYJS.

TALS chief executive officer Jake Smith said the state's leading Indigenous justice service encouraged members from communities across the state to have a voice in the engagement process.

"We believe the strategy must put Aboriginal youth, people and communities at the centre and that long term, community-based solutions and investment is required," Mr Smith told National Indigenous Times.

Mr Smith said the strategy will need to have "clear goals, timeframes and accountabilities to ensure real action" considering Aboriginal young people remain "significantly over-represented in the justice system".

"Earlier this year, Aboriginal Youth represented over 40 per cent of youth in the Ashely Youth Detention Centre," Mr Smith said.

"This is totally unacceptable and needs to change."

In announcing the consultation period, Tasmanian Minister for Children and Youth Roger Jaensch admitted there is a "need to do more to close the gap and help vulnerable Aboriginal children thrive in our society".

"Either directly or through these organisations, we want to hear the stories and insights of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children and families about their priorities for early intervention and diversion," Mr Jaensch said.

Community members can make submissions as part of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Youth Justice Strategy's development via local community organisations or via email at [email protected].