Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles has launched a scathing attack on the ABC's Four Corners program, accusing it of inflaming racial tensions and playing politics ahead of the NT election.

It comes as the head of the NT Department of Corrections labelled the program, which detailed years of heavy-handed treatment of juveniles at the hands of corrections staff, as "one-sided".

Mr Giles said the program was intended to cause maximum damage ahead of the NT election, saying the events detailed on the program, which happened at least two years ago, were intended to "strike fear into many different communities".

"We've seen an outrageous report just a couple of weeks ago now about Don Dale," Mr Giles told Sky News.

"A show that completely sought to politicise Four Corners in the lead up to a Northern Territory government election. I think Four Corners should be ashamed."

Adam Giles has attacked Four Corners over its report into youth detention. ( ABC News: James Dunlevie )

Mr Giles continued his attack on the program at a later press conference.

"To see an episode such as that try and stir up racial divide in the Northern Territory, I think is appalling, I think is racist and I'm absolutely disgusted in what they've done," Mr Giles said.

Four Corners executive producer Sally Neighbour tweeted that Mr Giles' accusations were " false, outrageous and desperate".

A statement from the ABC said the show's air date "was determined by production times and nothing else".

"For planning purposes the original air date was set weeks in advance, well before we even knew what the final story would be," the statement said.

"That was later extended by one week because it was a highly complex story with many legal issues."

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Opponents call on Giles to stop blaming others

Mr Giles' attack on Four Corners is the latest in a range of responses to the program.

The day after the episode aired in July, Mr Giles expressed shock at the footage, which included the tear-gassing of six teenagers in isolation in 2014, and made a string of promises to reform the system, including a royal commission and the construction of a new juvenile corrections facility.

Mr Giles also sacked NT minister for corrections John Elferink, taking on the portfolio himself.

He has also pointed blame at others, alleging a cover-up within corrections to prevent the video being seen by senior officials, including Mr Elferink.

In the following weeks Mr Giles also posed the question whether lawyers who had appeared on the Four Corners team had been former Labor party members.

Comments such as these prompted one retiring member of his government to call on Mr Giles to "stop blaming other people".

Today the head of both federal and NT Labor dismissed Mr Giles' remarks.

"I think Adam Giles inflicts injury upon what we've already seen when he wants to shoot the messenger rather than deal with the message," Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said.

"There's no conspiracy here, he has to accept responsibility for his decisions," NT Labor leader Michael Gunner said.

Corrections boss alleges unfair treatment

Mr Giles is not alone in criticising the Four Corners episode, with the head of NT Corrections, Commissioner Mark Payne, accusing the episode of failing in fairness and accuracy.

"There were many things around the Four Corners program that I felt were one-sided, it certainly told a story of 2014, it did not tell a story of 2016."

"The Four Corners team had been given access to all of that information. It's just very sad that they took no opportunity to report on those things."

Commissioner Payne pointed out that the department had committed to implementing all 16 recommendations of the Michael Vita report, which was commissioned after the 2014 tear-gassing incident.

Commissioner Payne said staff at the department were now feeling the brunt of community outrage.

"There had been officers who have had rocks thrown through their windows, they've been threatened to be beaten with baseball bats, we've had bomb threats," Commissioner Payne said.