A parliamentary committee has demanded the government justify any human rights limitations an extension of the Northern Territory intervention imposes on remote Indigenous communities.
Chairman of the joint committee on human rights, Labor MP Harry Jenkins, told parliament that members had received correspondence from the National Congress of Australia's First People asking them to examine the Stronger Futures bills now before the Senate.
The committee was working out how it would respond to the request, he said. In the meantime it had written to Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin seeking her advice on the bills' compatibility with Australia's human rights obligations.
The bills were introduced before there was a requirement for a human rights statement of compatibility, Mr Jenkins said.
He said the minister must justify any limitations on human rights.
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The Stronger Futures legislation continues the intervention for another 10 years. It includes jail terms for alcohol possession, as well as a controversial program that cuts the welfare payments of parents whose children do not attend school.
The measures are widely opposed by NT Aboriginal communities, who say they were not properly consulted about the extension.
They also say the draft laws are racist. In May, the Pacific representative of the United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights Matilda Bogner joined the chorus of indigenous leaders calling on the government to subject the bills to a human rights test.
