The Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion has apologised for not being aware of what he referred to as the "horrors" at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.

At the Garma Festival in north-east Arnhem Land, Mr Scullion took to the lectern for 30 minutes to make a speech which spanned topics from land rights to education and employment to business development.

As Northern Territory Opposition Leader Michael Gunner had done the day before, Mr Scullion was compelled to firstly address the Four Corners report into abuse of youth detainees in the NT.

He made an apology with a caveat.

"We must all take appropriate responsibility for what's occurred, including myself," Mr Scullion said.

"Now, I'm sorry I wasn't aware of the full circumstances that were exposed this week.

"Clearly I must be better informed about such matters, particularly when the vast majority of youths held in detention in the Northern Territory are Indigenous."

Mr Scullion committed to better monitoring of governments in this field, and said he had written to his government counterparts seeking their advice and support.

He also criticised Northern Territory Attorney-General John Elferink, who was dumped as the minister for corrections after the abuse came to light.

"I'm sorry that I accepted advice indicating that the Northern Territory's minister was responding to the concerns that were previously raised," he said.

Mr Scullion also rubbished media reports which he said accused him of only having watched Four Corners after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull asked him to.

"This is utter nonsense, I had a long-standing engagement of a very important and private matter that I honoured, and I watched the program with horror and outrage when I returned home," he said.