Northern Territory chief minister Lia Finocchiaro has cast doubt on the need for a royal commission into sexual abuse in remote communities, less than 24 hours after Peter Dutton made it a priority.

Asked at a press conference in Alice Springs on Wednesday about the prospect of a royal commission, Mr Dutton said it was an "absolute priority of the Government that I lead," arguing children in Alice Springs shouldn't be treated "any different to any other part of the country".

The announcement was heavily criticised by Indigenous organisations on Thursday, more than 15 months after first stating their reservation to the idea, calling it "beyond disappointing" their voices had not been heard.

"Spending millions of dollars on a Royal Commission is the definition of 'reckless government spending' and will not improve the life of one child," SNAICC chief executive Catherine Liddle said on Thursday.

Despite the Coalition's insistence of the need for the royal commission - only to examine alleged abuse in Indigenous communities as opposed to across Australia - this urgency wasn't replicated by Ms Finocchiaro on Thursday, despite appearing alongside Mr Dutton at the press conference a day earlier.

Asked on ABC Radio if she agreed the NT had a "problem" which required a royal commission, Ms Finocchiaro said she understood it would be a federal investigation.

"So how bad is it in the Northern Territory? I've not had specific reports from police about this," she said.

Pressed on the fact the Territory has mandatory reporting of all abuse claims, the Chief Minister added: "I guess the Royal Commission will flesh that out…"

"It is certainly not been put to me that this is where we need to be spending our time and energy," she said.

"Does it happen? Absolutely. Is it abhorrent? Absolutely. Does it need to be squashed? absolutely. So happy for the feds to do what they got to."

Nonetheless, the Chief Minister's hesitation over the abuse claims, when her government has operated under certainty surrounding other aspects of the Territory - mainly crime - has undermined the need for a royal commission.

Indigenous leaders have long criticised the opposition for supposedly politicising Indigenous child abuse, with 36 Indigenous and child safety groups arguing in 2023 a now implemented national Indigenous children's commissioner, with powers to investigate, would be more effective.

"These calls for a royal commission into the sexual abuse of Aboriginal children have been made without one shred of real evidence being presented," the Indigenous leaders said at the time.

"They play into the basest negative perceptions of some people about Aboriginal people and communities."

Retiring coalition senator Simon Birmingham falsely claimed in the wake of the Voice defeated there had been an additional 30,000 reported instances of child abuse or concern in the Northern Territory, as opposed to 30,000 total in 2021-22.

This figure referred to unsubstantiated concerns reported to the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities (TFHC). Following investigations, 1710 reports were substantiated, with six per cent involving sexual exploitation.

Furthermore, there are concerns the costly expense of a royal commission serves no more than a political purpose, with recommendations routinely ignored or pushed back on.

The federal opposition have supported the Queensland LNP government in their decision to take away detention as a last resort—a key tenet of the 1991 royal commission into Indigenous deaths in custody.

The NT's new CLP government has also been accused of backtracking on recommendations from both the 1991 royal commission, and the 2017 Don Dale royal commission, when they lowered the age of criminal responsibility and instigated a number of "punitive" measures around detention.

There have been more than 33 reports into allegations of abuse and neglect in First Nations communities since the Bringing them Home report in 1997. More than a hundred of the recommendations in them have not been implemented.

"If Mr Dutton is truly as concerned about the safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children as we are, then he would be supporting the strengthening of community-controlled organisations," Ms Liddle said on Thursday.

National Indigenous Times asked Opposition Indigenous spokesperson Jacinta Nampijinpa Price for a response to Ms Liddle's comments regarding how her new role in abolishing government waste would level with a royal commission, however received no response.