Thirteen per cent of Indigenous households in the Northern Territory's public housing system are overcrowded, compared to 10 per cent across Australia, the Productivity Commission said in a report yesterday.
The NT's overcrowding issue affects remote communities and the 'town camps' of Alice Springs.
But a gap in reporting means it is unclear whether the town camps are included in the Northern Territory's public housing figures.
Residents in two out of 18 town camps survive in tin structures without running water or power, the Tangentyere Council states on its website.
Outside Alice Springs, the issue with overcrowding affects remote communities.
Overcrowding was a problem in the Southern Tanami region in the Northern Territory, Central Desert Regional Council Southern Tanami Ward Robert Robertson said.
"We know that we've got that issue here," Councillor Robertson said.
He also said overcrowding was an issue across Australia, and no one had approached him about overcrowding lately.
The Central Desert Regional Council president and other councillors were contacted but were unavailable.
Overcrowding in some remote communities is one of many factors that force some to move to the town camps in Alice Springs, where the Tangentyere Council said conditions were improving.
"While there has been an undeniable improvement in town camp conditions - from illegal squatters to land tenure, from humpies and bits of tin to houses, the living standards of town camp residents remain unacceptably low," the website says.
The Tangentyere Council was contacted but were unavailable for comment.
The situation with overcrowding in Central Australia had improved, but needed more attention, Central Australia Affordable Housing Company chief executive Hal Bisset said.
He said being mobile was part of life for many in Central Australia, where people from remote communities would visit Alice Springs for dialysis and other medical treatments.
Many would share space with relatives, he said.
“That may mean that a household goes from six to eight people to 12-15,” Mr Bisset said.
“Overcrowding inevitably puts a lot of pressure on health hardware.”
That hardware included plumbing, air conditioning and other household infrastructure important for health and wellbeing, he said.
Remote communities in Central Australia lacked opportunities for employment and many travel to Alice Springs to find work, Mr Bisset said.
However, without the money to move into their own accommodation, many share space with relatives in already overcrowded dwellings.
The Northern Territory's Department of Health was contacted for comment about the effects of overcrowding on public health, but they were unavailable.
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