More than 200 recommendations from the royal commission into youth detention and child protection are to be funded by the NT Government, in a bid to reform the Territory's "broken" youth justice system.

The $229 million package of works will focus on preventing children and families from entering the child protection and youth justice systems, and will be budgeted and implemented over a five-year period.

The royal commission delivered its final report in November after a year of hearings.

The inquiry was sparked by an ABC Four Corners report on the tear-gassing and mistreatment of young people detained at Darwin's Don Dale youth detention centre.

Last month, the Gunner Government promised an overhaul of the Territory's child protection and youth justice systems, offering full or in principle to support to all 227 recommendations made by the royal commission.

Of those recommendations, 217 relate directly to the NT Government, and have been allocated to 17 work programs.

Key funding: $71.4 million to replace Don Dale and Alice Springs youth detention centres

$71.4 million to replace Don Dale and Alice Springs youth detention centres $66.9 million to develop a new platform to manage child protection cases

$66.9 million to develop a new platform to manage child protection cases $22.9 million to improve youth detention operations and reduce recidivism

$22.9 million to improve youth detention operations and reduce recidivism $12.9 million to engage young people

$12.9 million to engage young people $11.4 million to establish coordination hubs and expand Child and Family Centres

$11.4 million to establish coordination hubs and expand Child and Family Centres $9.9 million to divert young people from crime and stop future offending

$9.9 million to divert young people from crime and stop future offending $8.9 million to empower local decision making and community-led reform

The investment centres around a $71.4 million commitment to replace both the current Don Dale facility and the Alice Springs youth detention centre with "youth justice training centres", announced by the Government in February.

An additional $66.9 million will be used to fund a new information technology system that will enable better protection of children from abuse and improve youth justice.

The need for a new client information system and data brokerage service was highlighted most recently in the review of an alleged sexual assault of a child in Tennant Creek, which found child protection services lacked oversight and coordination in its handling of the case.

A further $22.9 million has been put aside to improve youth detention operations and reduce recidivism, while $11.4 million will be used to establish coordination hubs and expand the number of Child and Family Centres across the Territory.

"We have come a long way, this has been a long journey," Minister for Territory Families Dale Wakefield said.

"We absolutely have had a system that has failed Territorian families and community.

"This is about long-term, systemic changes that will be drivers for a safer community for us all."

'This is about keeping kids out of the system'

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The Northern Territory Government said it would align its total budget and effort towards achieving the required reforms.

Ms Wakefield said the funding would focus on early intervention, with an emphasis on the Aboriginal voices and communities central to decision making, and shifting service delivery to Aboriginal controlled organisations.

In addition to the $110 million already set aside for out-of-home-care per year, $5.4 million will be invested over four years to improve support to kinship and foster carers, and outcomes from children in care.

Just over $4 million of that funding will be quarantined for Aboriginal controlled organisations, and Territory Families will prioritise partnering with those groups to increase the number of Aboriginal carers.

"This is about keeping vulnerable kids out of the child protection system," Ms Wakefield said.

"It recognises that a culture of punishment does not work to break the cycle of crime.

The five-year plan of works will be delivered in three implementation phases, and some of the key funding announcements, including the replacement of youth detention centres and a new integrated client information system, are not expected to occur until the third stage, or fifth year.

Phase one, to be rolled out within 12 months, includes the establishment of three new Child and Family Centres, expanded access to diversion and bail support and increased support to young people leaving care to access housing, among other initiatives.

Within three years, the NT Government hopes to "transform out-of-home-care", establish the Commission for Children and Young People and establish NT and Australian Government joint planning mechanism.

Commonwealth should come to the table: Wakefield

Though the reforms were touted as an "historic investment", Ms Wakefield was pressed by reporters as to whether community-based diversionary programs should have received more funding.

$12.9 million has been set aside to "engage young people" through programs targeted at at-risk and vulnerable youth, while an additional $9.9 million will be invested over a four-year period to "divert young people from crime".

Ms Wakefield defended the announcements, pointing to a suite of reforms announced last year, including boot camps, victim conferencing and youth diversion workers.

"We know there's more work we need to do … There's already been some money spent in that [area]," Ms Wakefield said.

"We need a system that's focused on individual needs, a case-management model rather than a program model."

The NT Government says it is working on making youth detention less punitive. ( ABC News: Jane Bardon )

Ms Wakefield was also quizzed about a number of funding shortfalls, including a decision to increase the number of Child and Family Centres from six to 17, despite the royal commission recommendation that 20 centres be developed.

She said it was an opportunity for the Federal Government to make its own funding commitment, and conceded the $71 million set aside to replace the Don Dale and Alice Springs youth detention centres may not be enough.

"We are also looking for investment from our federal partners on that infrastructure," Ms Wakefield said.

"[The plan] does provide opportunities for the Federal Government to work alongside us, rather than create their own plan."

'Is it enough money? Probably not'

While welcoming the reforms, the Northern Territory children's commissioner Colleen Gwynne said the devil would be in the detail.

"We've been in the position many times in the Northern Territory where we've had an inquiry or a royal commission or report, and this is where we fail," she said.

"This is the test now. What do we do from this day forward to change the outcomes for kids?"

Under the funding announcement, the Office of the Children's Commission will receive an additional $580,000 a year to monitor and audit the youth justice and child protection systems, and inspect detention facilities and out-of-home-care sites.

Ms Gwynne said that only equated to four new positions.

"Money doesn't go far, we know that," she said.

Youth detained inside Darwin's Don Dale juvenile prison. ( ABC Radio Darwin: Emilia Terzon )

"We've failed in the past … Is this different? In some respects, yes it is. Is there enough money? Probably not.

"But I think it's about a willingness to make a difference, the willingness to make some hard decisions … to make sure we're not still here in five years trying to address the recommendations."

The Law Council of Australia said the NT Government needed to give priority to raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.

The Government has previously supported the move, but is yet to provide a timeframe for the change.

"We understand that the NT Government has a process underway to look at these two landmark recommendations, but we must reiterate that they are at the centre of meaningful and lasting change for the Territory," Law Council president Morry Bailes said.

"Raising the age of criminal responsibly will radically change how the criminal justice system responds to our youngest and most vulnerable children."