The Northern Territory's largest Indigenous legal organisation has become the latest group to criticise the new government's plan to lower the age of criminal responsibility.

The CLP's pre-election plan to ignore the advice of medical, legal and human rights groups and combat youth crime by lowering the age of criminal responsibility was officially adopted on Monday, when Chief Minister-elect Lia Finocchiaro told reporters it's "important to hold people accountable for the crimes they're committing".

On Wednesday, the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) urged the new government to reconsider its proposal, arguing the "tough on crime" policies would disproportionately impact Aboriginal children without making the community safer.

Principal Legal Officer Jared Sharp said the policies could prove counterproductive, arguing research shows children first imprisoned between 10- and 12-years-of-age children are twice as likely to reoffend than those who are sentenced as young adults.

"Lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10 years of age would be a reckless, backwards step that would only serve to cause further harm to young children as well as the broader community," Mr Sharp said.

"The Northern Territory raised the age to 12 only a year ago following substantial analysis and consultation around the best way to handle young children who come into contact with the justice system and there is no evidence to conclude that this needs to be reversed."

Experts in the NT yet to meet with the new government told National Indigenous Times any U-turn on the policy was highly unlikely as the CLP has a clear election mandate.

During the election campaign, the new Chief Minister advocated a series of harsher penalties for offenders.

These include vowing to reduce the age of criminal responsibility to 10 - four years lower than recommended by world's best practice and leading experts - and to introduce "Declan's Law", which will mean offenders categorised as violent are automatically remanded to jail with a presumption against bail.

20-year-old Declan Laverty was fatally stabbed while working at a Darwin liquor store last year and the CLP says the bail amendment bearing his name is part of their plan to "reduce crime through early intervention, addressing the root causes and real consequences for repeat and serious offenders."

Federal Opposition Indigenous affairs spokesperson Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has backed the new government, arguing they "have a strong plan to tackle crime and restore safety to the streets of Territory communities".

Currently the NT locks up four times as many children as any other jurisdiction, while 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.

Child protection lodgements rose 50 per cent over the last year, with only a quarter of First Nations children in out-of-home care placed in a kinship placement.

"While we acknowledge the need to focus policy efforts on crime prevention, data shows a consistent and steady reduction in youth crime rates in the Territory over the past 10 years and we strongly recommend that, particularly for younger children, this is not an area that requires a significant punitive response," Mr Sharp said.

The latest youth detention data showed 97 per cent of youth detainees in the NT are Indigenous, with approximately half being held on remand - having either not been convicted or sentenced.

Mr Sharp said politics must not intersect with the safety of children.

"If the new government is keen on improving community safety and liveability in the Territory, there are smarter ways to address youth offending, such as investing in prevention and early intervention programs that work," he said.

"In particular, we must bolster the opportunities for youth diversion, particularly trauma informed, and culturally competent diversion programs led by Aboriginal organisations, as currently, programs are few and far between.

"Changing laws to put more children in prison at a younger age will only create a pipeline into adult prison and a lifetime of involvement in the criminal justice system."