Senator Ridgeway's call follows a disclosure that 20,000 Indigenous young people have called the telephone counselling service, Kids Help Line, over the past year.
He says youth drop-in centres provided in the general community will not work in Indigenous communities because they won't fix the underlying problems such as domestic violence and abuse.
Senator Ridgeway says more needs to be done to support Indigenous children.
"Most of these young people that have been calling have focussed in on the necessity for forming a proper and functioning relationship with their parents, with their family and with the broader community. And so I think in many respects it's indicating that there needs to be a focus on making sure the communities can function, that young people can relate to old people and that we do start to fix the problems of alcohol and substance abuse, domestic violence and the sort."
