Tony Abbott will be given free rein in his job as special envoy for Indigenous affairs, with Scott Morrison backing the former prime minister to pursue his new role without toeing the government line.
Indigenous groups have raised concerns about the appointment with the co-chair of the prime minister's Indigenous advisory council Andrea Mason worried a focus on school attendance could be negative.
But the prime minister believes Mr Abbott will do a "cracker" of a job, given his passion for the issue.
"I want him to be able to free rein on this," Mr Morrison told Sky News.
"I don't want him to be constrained... as a minister trying to defend government policy and all this sort of thing."
Mr Morrison said he had been to Indigenous communities with Mr Abbott where his commitment to the cause was evident through his actions when cameras were not around.
He said he appointed Mr Abbott to the envoy role because getting children an education was one of the most important ways to combat Indigenous disadvantage.
"He's not going to just serve it up to me, I assume he's going to serve it up to the states as well and be able to look at these problems above and outside government," Mr Morrison said.
