Aboriginal groups say it is former and current Northern Territory government ministers who must be held to account, not just low-level prison officers, following the findings from the NT's Royal Commission into youth detention and child protection.

The commission did not recommend specific criminal charges, which former corrections minister John Elferink said left things "a million miles away" from heavy criticism levelled at the NT Government after the Four Corners report went to air.

The commission has referred several matters to police, including potential criminal conduct by youth justice officers and abuse of children in out-of-home residential care.

Olga Havnen from the Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory group said potential criminal conduct should be investigated, but said ministers who held responsibility for youth detention should not escape further scrutiny.

"Hanging low level officers out to dry, and to scapegoat them, is not good enough," she said.

"Where there has been wrongdoing, of course that should be investigated, and where appropriate, prosecuted.

"But I would be really unhappy if it was only those sorts of actions were being taken at very low-level, operational sort of staff.

"At the end of the day, the responsibility for the culture, the conduct, the policies, the directives and the law, all of which allowed these things to take place on the watch of any particular minister, they're the ones that are accountable."

McCarthy should 'reconsider' ministerial position

The commission named Mr Elferink and former Labor corrections minister Gerry McCarthy, who is now in government again, in its findings.

It said the ministers and their governments were "continually briefed" about problems in the NT's youth detention centres and failed to address the concerns and prevent matters deteriorating.

Mr Elferink said he made "strident efforts" to improve the youth detention system while he was minister but was hamstrung when requests for funding were knocked back by his cabinet.

Labor's current Housing Minister Gerry McCarthy was responsible for Corrections from 2009 to 2012. ( ABC News: Xavier La Cana )

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said on Friday that Mr McCarthy would be kept on in Cabinet.

"If we were to make a judgement call right now on anyone who had made a mistake in youth justice we would have a very small workforce," Mr Gunner said.

"We've all made mistakes, all the way through, and if you want to find improvement in the Northern Territory, if you want to move ahead we've all got to work together.

Ms Havnen said Mr McCarthy's future was a matter for the government but she believed he should reconsider his position.

"Sometimes apologies aren't enough," she said.

"It gives us absolutely no comfort whatsoever to see people continue to hold positions of power and authority and to act as ministers when, you know, such dreadful things happened on their watch."

Commission slams former Chief Minister

The commission made a comparatively brief mention of former chief minister Adam Giles, noting that he was the only witness to refuse the commission's request for a written statement.

The report said that the commission heard evidence of Mr Giles' "apparent ignorance" of the crises in youth justice under his government.

"While a detailed knowledge of operational matters would not always be required of a Chief Minister, the problems were serious and well-known amongst senior management at the highest level," the report said.

"If Mr Giles is correct, then there was a reprehensible failure of government."