A decade since the intervention began, elders say the policy has done more harm than good.
Thousands of kilometres from home, a group of Indigenous elders have convened in Melbourne to send a message to the federal government on the ten years of the Northern Territory intervention.
Amongst them is Indigenous activist and Medal of the Order of Australia honoree Rosalie Kunoth-Monks.
"What we need is some honesty and proof and we need a full and complete apology. It is not we who are the savages."
In 2007 John Howard brought in a package of law and welfare measures he called the The Northern Territory National Emergency Response.
The measures included the deployment of police and military to some Indigenous communities, new governance policies were introduced, welfare payments were quarantined, and old employment strategies were abolished.
Dr Djiniyini Gondarra of the Yolgnu Nations Assembly say it's been a decade of damage, that could lead to international legal action.
"When there's no other choice but to take Australian government, instead of being responsible they've become the dictator of our people, we need to face court."
They're launching a joint call for self-determination and recognition that the intervention has failed.
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks says what they want is more than an apology.
"I am sick to death of apologies - it's got to be action, and that action needs to be taken by us."
The Federal Government is holding hearings in Alice Springs into the effectiveness of the Community Development Program, an initiative of the Northern Territory intervention designed to improve employment.
But Professor Jon Altman of Deakin University, who is speaking at the hearing, says the government needs to take stock of the last decade of Indigenous policies as in many areas the gaps are increasing.
"Not only have things not improved but some things have actually got worse despite considerable investments in remote communities and what that tells me is that these investments have been poorly directed."
The office of the Federal Indigenous Affairs minister Nigel Scullion has responded saying that the leasures launched in 2007 were designed for the protection of Australian children.
In a statement is says significant funding has been provided to improve health, education and policing in remote communities, and that $1.7 billion in housing investment has reduced overcrowding
But Indigenous elders say the reality is vastly different.
Yolgnu Nations Assembly spokewoman Nyomba Gandangu says any future measures must include Indigenous governance.
"What needs to happen, what needs to be addressed, (is) that we need our power back."
