The Abbott government has reluctantly reaffirmed its commitment to introducing a new indigenous Close the Gap target on justice.
Aboriginal leaders have been pushing for a new target to reduce high indigenous incarceration rates.
Indigenous adults are 14 times more likely to be jailed than other Australians, and indigenous minors are 31 times more likely to be incarcerated.
During a Senate estimates hearing on Friday, Labor's Jan McLucas pressed Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion on whether his government's pre-election support for a justice target was ongoing.
"At the risk of being verballed ... can you provide me exactly where we made that commitment?" Senator Scullion replied.
Senator McLucas then quoted Senator Scullion in his own media release from August last year.
The minister went on to say the government broadly supported developing a new justice target but wanted it to focus on reducing rates of violent offending.
Senator Scullion said the setting of targets was a matter for the Council of Australian Governments because it concerned state and territory justice systems.
"Clearly without the support of states and territories this will go nowhere," Senator Scullion said.
He was also asked whether the federal government had done any analysis of how $3 million in cuts to Aboriginal legal services will affect incarceration rates.
Senator Scullion said the money would come from advocacy and law reform work budgets - not frontline legal services - and would therefore have no effect.
After former prime minister Kevin Rudd's 2008 apology to the stolen generations, federal, state and territory governments agreed on six ambitious targets to tackle indigenous disadvantage.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott flagged this month the introduction of a new target to improve poor school attendance.
