Two Indigenous Senators have responded to the 14-day youth curfew in Mparntwe/Alice Springs by urging the federal government to act, with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price calling for the deployment of the defence force to the town.

On Wednesday, the NT government declared a curfew for children under 18 in Mparntwe/Alice Springs in an attempt to curb youth crime.

Tensions surrounding the death of an 18-year-old in a car accident erupted on Tuesday - the day of his funeral – leading to dozens attacking a local tavern and police reporting an estimated 150 people in Hidden Valley community, outside the city, "going armed in public and engaging in violent conduct".

The Warlpiri/Celtic senator and opposition Indigenous spokesperson has been a vocal critic of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's handling of crime in Mparntwe/Alice Springs. She said the government needed to deploy the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to restore "safety."

"Prime Minister Albanese needs to go back to Alice Springs, needs to deploy the ADF, needs to have a presence in our community to make people of Alice Springs feel some sense of safety once and for all," Senator Price told Sky News.

She said she supported the curfew measures "for the interim" but argued more needed to be done in the long-term.

"Well, this is really a short-term band-aid solution. The government needs to seriously consider once and for all what the long term looks like," the former deputy mayor of Mparntwe/Alice Springs said.

She argued there was a "shortage of police" and the PM has "promised" 30 extra police officers for the town.

"But the last I spoke to police in the NT, they said they were down 30 police, so that would require another 60 police," Senator Price said.

She told the Senate on Wednesday: "This situation will get worse if it is not dealt with and dealt with immediately."

Shadow Child Protection Minister Kerrynne Liddle called for more transparency from the federal government on funding designed to reduce youth crime.

"We've certainly seen big announcements on Central Australia and a lot of money put towards efforts to reduce crime, reduce antisocial behaviour, and increase the safety of all Central Australians," the Arrernte senator told Sky News.

She said she had seen some "pretty poor delivery and some poor outcomes".

"I've been asking for some time for information how decisions were made about how all of that additional money was going to be used and who it was going to, but also information on what has been the outcomes today, some progress," Senator Liddle said.

Labor MP Marion Scrymgour, whose electorate of Lingiari takes in Mparntwe/Alice Springs, said she would talk to the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus about how to coordinate support from the Commonwealth.

She told Mix 104.9 she couldn't commit to ADF intervention, but did agree "we've got to do something".

"I've been talking to people on the ground and the despair that I've heard in people's voices -when you look at what's been happening, enough is enough," Ms Scrymgour said.

"There's a lot of violence happening, Aboriginal on Aboriginal, and young people are getting seriously hurt here."

Opinions have been divided on the necessity of the curfew, with some groups arguing it is a circuit breaker that is needed for the embattled town, whilst others - including Amnesty International Australia, NATSILS and NAAJA have criticised the decision as "knee-jerk" and unlikely to help the issue of youth crime.

The NT News reported on Wednesday First Nations elders were horrified at the idea of a government intervention, fearful of similar outcomes to the heavily criticised 2007 intervention by the then Howard Liberal-National Government.

Ms Scrymgour told Mix 104.9 there was trauma associated with the previous intervention.

"Previously when the federal government intervened in the Territory it targeted the wrong people," she said.

"The problem is not out in remote communities, the problem was always going to be the rivers of grog and the lack of accountability in our urban centres."

Warlpiri Elder Valerie Napaljarri Martin, who is a member of the Intervention Rollback Action Group, told NT News they had "tried lots of times" to talk to Senator Price and "invite her out to Yuendumu to discuss" the proposed intervention but she had chosen not to "budge".

She said politicians were "only using the issues for personal and political gain".

It is not the first time Senator Price has been criticised by Indigenous groups from Central Australia.

After saying there were no ongoing negative impacts of colonisation in Australia, the Central Land Council slammed both Senator Price and Senator Liddle, calling their denial of history "disgraceful."