The Northern Territory's chief minister says his new Aboriginal affairs strategy will empower remote communities and create jobs.
Unveiling the full plan on Monday, Adam Giles said he was committed to doubling the number of indigenous public servants by 2020.
He also said the government needed to lead by example to encourage the private sector to boost Aboriginal employment in a jurisdiction where one third of the population is indigenous, with about 80 per cent living in remote communities.
"What we are driving is local employment ... This is about trying to change the lives of indigenous Territorians," he told reporters.
The goal is to have education and local health managed entirely by local communities as the government decentralises power and builds capacity in remote areas to create sustainable regional economies, he said.
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Mr Giles had previously scrapped the indigenous affairs portfolio when he came to power three years ago, before reinstating it last year with himself as minister.
He pre-empted the question of why it has taken three and a half years to develop the strategy by saying "we have actually been doing this work for a long period of time ... This is an opportunity for us to bring it together collectively right now and publicise it".
The NT general election will be held in August and Mr Giles has faced criticism for failing the remote communities that helped his Country Liberals Party win power in 2012.
The strategy will require that by next year, 70 per cent of all civil and construction contracts worth less than $5 million in remote Aboriginal communities will go to local businesses.
The government is offering a subsidy to businesses that can prove they are employing and training locals.
There have been anecdotal claims some companies are inflating how many indigenous staff they have to get the subsidy, or that unskilled workers are being hired and cannot undertake certain jobs, and Mr Giles said anyone caught would be blacklisted from receiving government contracts.
James Parry is from Daly River, which was flooded and fully evacuated at Christmas, and he has been employed by SH Build as part of the clean-up operation under the strategy's subsidy program, and said his job was "real good" after spending years on the work for the dole program.
"We needed something better ... I wanted to move away from that and get a decent job," he said.
The first annual report on the strategy will be presented to cabinet next month.
THE NT'S ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS STRATEGY BY THE NUMBERS:
* Target to double indigenous public servants from 8% to 16% by 2020
* 70% of all remote civil and construction projects under $5m to go to local Aboriginal businesses by 2017
* 576 people employed on government construction projects since October 2014, compared to 40 the previous year
