Justice advocate group the National Network of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls has called on South Australia Attorney-General to talk - and listen - to the children in youth detention.

The call comes after National Indigenous Times revealed on Tuesday Mr Maher had ignored an invitation from the state's Guardian for Children and Young People, Shona Reid, to be interviewed, speak to children in detention, or even reply to a report detailing detainees experiences while incarcerated.

The report, From Those Who Know: Minimum Age of Responsibility, heard first-hand accounts from children in custody at the Kurlana Tapa Youth Justice Centre, with young inmate telling the report: "They lock disability (sic) kids up in here, bro. It's shameful."

Another child, recounting their first time in court said: "I remember crying when I got put in handcuffs, cause (sic) I didn't know what was happening. And then I thought I was going to, like, go to where the movies are, and get like flogged and stuff, like how you see it in the movies."

Ms Reid told National Indigenous Times on Tuesday she had written to Mr Maher asking for an interview and a response to the report since early April, but as of yet there had been no response.

Mr Maher, South Australia's first Indigenous Attorney-General and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, sidestepped questions put to him about this lack of a response to Ms Reid's invitation, as well as queries about if he would be meeting the young inmates in the future.

On Wednesday, the National Network said it was unacceptable for Mr Maher to ignore the voices of Aboriginal children incarcerated "on their own land".

"The continued silence and avoidance from the Attorney-General are acts of cowardice. When children call for justice and seek a response, to turn away and ignore their pleas is a gross failure of leadership," National Network member Tabitha Lean said.

Ms Lean said it was a "glaring hypocrisy" to give Kurlana Tapa Youth Justice Centre a Kaurna name - honouring First Nations language - and then ignore Indigenous children.

"To imprison these children on their own country, in their own communities, and then dismiss their voices when they speak up is typical of government representatives," she said.

Fellow National Network member Debbie Kilroy said Mr Maher had chosen to ignore children and evade "responsibility and accountability" rather than showing "compassion or leadership".

"His refusal to meet with them, to acknowledge their humanity, and to take responsibility for the laws that continue to punish and brutalise them is not only shameful—it is a betrayal of his office," Ms Kilroy said.

"The National Network call on the Attorney-General to step up, listen, and engage meaningfully with the children whose futures he is impacting. Anything less is an abdication of his duty to serve all South Australians, particularly the most vulnerable."

In January, the SA government was criticised by Indigenous and Human Rights groups for only "considering" raising the age of criminal responsibility to 12, despite an Advisory Commission into Incarceration Rates of Aboriginal People - set up by the government - explicitly recommending the age be raised to 14.

According to the latest Closing the Gap data, on an average day in 2022-23, over 60 per cent of youth detainees in South Australia were Indigenous, despite making up only 4.7 per cent of the youth population.

Mr Maher told National Indigenous Times the government has no policy position to raise the age, but any action taken would put community safety at the forefront.

Last month, Australia's National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds said the treatment of children as young as 10-years-old in the criminal justice system is one of the most urgent human rights issues facing Australia today.