Pediatrician Rob Roseby, who chaired an inquiry into the NT's child protection system, on Monday said the system was completely overwhelmed.
"Child protection hasn't failed because of problems with individuals; it has failed because it is the wrong system," he said.
"It is expected to do far more than child protection because it is expected to deal with so many individual, family and community problems that no one else is addressing."
The board of inquiry on Monday released the NT's most damning child protection-related report to date, containing 147 recommendations and titled Growing Them Strong, Together.
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Dr Roseby, along with two other experts - NT Children's Commissioner psychologist Howard Bath and Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency chief executive officer Muriel Bamblett - visited 16 Aboriginal communities, heard 80 oral submissions and examined 156 written submissions.
The inquiry involved a review of recent investigations and inquiries in the NT, including the report that triggered the Howard government's intervention into remote Aboriginal communities.
The report focuses on the need for prevention, collaboration and greater Aboriginal involvement, as well as the serious systemic failings of the department and other upstream services.
The board members said their inquiry uncovered a "tsunami of need" that could only be addressed by immediate action.
