The Northern Territory Government is due to make a call on restrictions over takeaway alcohol sales in Mparntwe / Alice Springs before current measures expire in July.

Since their snap implementation in the weeks leading up to the reintroduction of wider restrictions resembling previous Stronger Futures legislation in February, crime statistics have dropped significantly across key indicators.

Since February domestic violence assaults in Alice have dropped 37 per cent, all assaults by 35 per cent and property damage by 25 percent.

The fall follows a distinct spike after Stronger Futures' ended in July 2022.

A return to strict alcohol bans in central Australian communities came amid an alcohol-fuelled crime surge in the region following the end of Stronger Futures, sparking government action at the federal and territory level.

Currently, no takeaway sales are only available between 3pm-7pm Wednesdays to Fridays, 11am-8pm on Saturdays and public holidays, not including Christmas Day and Good Friday, and from pubs with drive-through bottle shops and by members of a club between noon and 9pm.

A restriction of one purchase per person per day was also enforced.

Takeaway is not available on Mondays and Tuesdays.

In April, NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles announced takeaway alcohol restrictions would be extended by three months into July.

A decision to continue the provisions past this point has not been confirmed.

The People's Alcohol Action Coalition says the downward trajectory of crime statistics since the introduction of restrictions makes a clear case to hold onto them.

"When you look at the data it's obvious that we are now getting back to the levels we saw before the Stronger Futures alcohol provisions were allowed to lapse in July 2022. This is great news," PAAC spokesperson and Central Australian Aboriginal Congress Aboriginal Corporation chief medical officer Dr. John Boffa said.

"This clear evidence is what we've been hoping for, and this is why we need to continue the additional take-away restrictions beyond July 2023, when they are due to expire," Dr Boffa said.

"We are not out of the woods by a long shot, and PAAC still wants to see a limit on the volume of purchases in addition to the continuation of reduced bottle shop trading days and hours and the single daily transactions.

"The improvement is nevertheless stark, and these figures correspond with the reduction in alcohol-related Emergency Department presentations, with the overall general recovery in our town."

Dr. Boffa has consulted with the Government as part of the NT Alcohol Data Monitoring Group in his capacity with Congress.

He told National Indigenous Times he's hopeful of takeaway restrictions continuing if the right data presented to the government.

He sees them as a key component to the wider legislation introduced earlier this year.

"There's good evidence both of these measures are working synergistically and adding to each other. So if we removed the two takeaway free days, and leave longer features on its own, there will be an increase in harm," Dr Boffa said.

The NT Chief Minister agrees the current measures in place are showing positive impact, but did not confirm the continuation of alcohol restrictions.

"We will continue to support all our Territory regions, with a difference approach needed in each. We are currently reviewing the data to see what will occur at the end of July when this round of restrictions is due to end," Ms Fyles told National Indigenous Times.

Dr Boffa said differential approach can be viewed as short-term action.

Alcohol-attributable hospitalisations rates paint a stark picture.

"The all-cause alcohol attributable hospitalisation rate in Alice Springs is 20 times higher than the national average, and it's more than double what it is in Darwin, just comparing Aboriginal people in Central Australia and Aboriginal people in Darwin," he said.

"We've got a very big problem here, that's very different to any other region in the country...we need a differential response, until such time as the intergenerational trauma is addressed.

"I think we're talking a generation before we can reasonably say maybe we're at a point where we can start to have the same alcohol policy measures of the rest of the country."

At the time of the NT's alcohol ban legislation, Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians repeatedly cited the need to address intergenerational trauma and systematic issues impacting First Nations people in central Australia.

Then-newly appointed Central Australian Regional Controller Dorelle Anderson handed a review of the situation in and around Alice to Ms Fyles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The report informed the reintroduction of robust alcohol restrictions into communities.

The federal government committed $250 million towards community safety measures in addition to a $48 million funding injection announced in January.

Community consultation by the Regional Controller has continued to identify underlying issues in need of support.

"Alcohol restrictions and alcohol-related harm were raised by stakeholders earlier in the year, however other themes have been more to the fore related to the underlying factors and causes of the issues which were playing out in Alice Springs," a spokesperson from the office of the controller told National Indigenous Times.

"Solutions identified through the consultation include addressing these factors which include poverty, food security, investment in remote communities, improved educational and employment pathways for Aboriginal Territorians and remote housing and infrastructure."