Aboriginal peak bodies have warned against government "buck passing" in implementing the juvenile justice royal commission's recommendations, calling on cash from Canberra to help fund the most comprehensive overhaul in Northern Territory history.
The $54 million commission's final report was released on Friday, containing more than 200 recommendations.
They include the closure of Darwin's Don Dale Detention Centre where boys were tear gassed, banning restraint and long isolation stints, and a 10-year generational strategy to address child protection.
Danila Dilba chief executive Olga Havnen says the Territory has a small capacity to generate its own revenue and she's worried proposed changes to the GST carve up will strip funding even further.
"If that happens it increases the likelihood that the Northern Territory government on its own will not be able to implement the recommendations," she said.
"So it's really incumbent on the commonwealth government to commit."
The NT government has accepted a three-month deadline to close Don Dale and the Alice Springs detention facilities, and will be seeking answers from the prime minister on a cost-sharing arrangement during that time.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner has pledged $50 million towards setting up new youth justice infrastructure and expects the federal government to match it, but no guarantees have been made yet.
"The commonwealth paid for half the costs of the royal commission, I do think it's reasonable, and there is a public expectation, that the commonwealth are part of the solution," Mr Gunner said.
The Labor leader said he was negotiating in good faith with federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion, who agreed it should be put on the COAG agenda.
"There are lessons out of this royal commission for all parts of this country," Mr Gunner said.
National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations chief executive Pat Turner called on Malcolm Turnbull to "put his money with his mouth is".
"You don't set up a royal commission and then walk away from the implementation," she said.
Central Australian Aboriginal Congress chief executive Donna Ah Chee said indigenous leaders will strive to ensure the recommendations don't sit on a shelf gathering dust like so many that have come before it.
"For too long there have been reports, royal commissions and buck passing between commonwealth and state and territory governments," she said.
The inquiry believes nearly $336 million could be saved over a decade if all the recommendations are put in place, while if no action is taken youth detention costs would rise to $113 million a year by 2027.
"Even if your emotions don't tell you it's not a good thing to lock up children, the economists will," co-commissioner Margaret White said.
