The Northern Territory government has removed 15 children from their families around Tennant Creek because they were found to be unsafe since the rape of a two-year-old girl in the town.
A parliamentary estimates hearing has also been told at least one child is sexually exploited or abused in the Territory each week.
Critics including deputy opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro say the government failed to implement quickly enough the recommendations of both a Royal Commission and Children's Commissioner Colleen Gwynne, that criticised department staff for not putting the safety of children first.
There have been 41 cases of sexual exploitation of children in the nine months to March 31, Territory Families department executive director Luke Twyford told the hearing in Darwin on Wednesday.
Of those, 23 involved Aboriginal children.
A 25-year-old man has been charged over the February rape of the two -year-old, who has been removed from her mother's care.
Territory Families has also responded to that abuse and scathing criticism from Ms Gwynne that staff should have known the girl was at risk and looked more closely at other children.
Tennant Creek has a population of 3000, more than half who are indigenous.
"We have taken additional children into care since that incident as a consequence of the lessons learned, 15 in fact in that region," Territory Families chief executive Ken Davies said.
He conceded more should have been done for the child earlier, with a history emerging of the victim and her siblings exposed to years of violence, abuse and neglect.
However Territory Families Minister Dale Wakefield and Mr Davies rejected suggestions by Araluen independent MP and former Country Liberal Treasurer Robyn Lambley either they or child protection workers should lose their job over the attack on the girl.
"This is a case that goes over a long period of time with many individual workers and different ministers," Ms Wakefield told reporters.
"We have multiple reports into the failing of the child protection system. As a government we are absolutely committed to investing in - and our budget shows that - improving the child protection system."
Federal Social Services Minister Dan Tehan, who will visit Tennant Creek next month, said he supported the NT government but it had to "understand their responsibility".
That included ensuring children's safety came first and implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT.
"What we saw was a culture within child protection in the NT where there was a reluctance to act but I think now it is quite clear the community expects and the Australian nation expects that a child's safety has to come first and we've seen they're acting in that way now," he told Sky News.
Mr Tehan said at a meeting with PM Malcolm Turnbull this week, Tennant Creek Mayor Steve Edgington, other councillors and traditional landowner Ronald Plumber were open to discussing basics or cashless welfare cards to limit alcohol use.
