The way Indigenous Australians are governed needs a complete overhaul, according to a report from the Australian Human Rights Commission.
"We need Government to sometimes just get out of the road and give us a chance to make some decision sin out own communities and in our own ways," said Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda as he handed down his annual report.
Mr Gooda says government interference has removed traditional leadership structures in many communities leaving people feeling powerless over their own futures.
"The Northern Territory Intervention disempowered Aboriginal people with the creation of super-shires".
For years governments have tried to address the issue of Aboriginal disadvantage but insiders say it's not working. Indigenous Australians are still 14 times more likely to go to jail than non-Indigenous Australians.
That's just one statistic that the head of the Aboriginal Land Council Geoff Scott says proves the Northern Territory Intervention is simply not working.
"They cannot sustain that level of effort and funding much longer and when they leave it's going to be worse than when they started. And that sad reality is what we're facing in Australia. Not just in the Territory. In a lot of places".
He says the federal government needs an exit strategy and it needs to put it into action now.
The commissioner isn't calling for Indigenous communities to be left alone. He says there should be emphasis placed on community governance and self-determination, a lot like local government, but at the same time there needs to be an appropriate level of federal government oversight -- a delicate balance.
