Working as an Aboriginal Liaison Officer (ALO) at the old Berrimah prison, Gwen Anderson dealt with so much grief that organising funerals in a shed out the back was simply part of the job description.

"Families would come in with a body and do cultural obligation [with a prisoner] and then the body would leave and go back out on a plane to [their] community," Ms Anderson said.

"We'd have to smoke out every block that we were in. There were a lot of processes where we'd have to have every smoke alarm turned off.

"It was mayhem sometimes."

Former ALO Ray Wilde with colleague Gwen Anderson ( ABC News: Emilia Terzon )

It was a specific call of duty that ended in 2014, when Berrimah Prison was closed and its more-than-1,000 adult prisoners moved to the new multi-billion-dollar Darwin Correctional Centre (DCC) in Holtze.

The role of ALO was axed in the process, forcing Ms Anderson to take another job in rehabilitation programs at the new prison.

"It was actually quite disheartening. I felt like I was talking to deaf ears to make [management] realise the majority of the prison population is Aboriginal," she said.

"Purely and simply, I feel sorry for the prisoners. I sometimes feel they're not having their cultural obligations met."

It is a sentiment reiterated in a scathing review of the Northern Territory's corrections system, released in full this week after a leak to the media, that calls for the reinstatement of ALOs at Holtze prison.

It was just one of 172 recommendations made by author Keith Hamburger to address what he called the "gross over-representation" of Indigenous people in NT prisons — who make up almost 90 per cent of the NT prison population.

It is a confronting statistic Ms Anderson's co-worker Ray Wilde, also a former ALO, has known all too well during his career in corrections.

"You wonder, why are my people in jail?" he said.

Prisoners 'can't voice their opinion'

Like Ms Anderson, Mr Wilde believes cultural sensitivity should be a priority, especially with English a distant language for some and payback a reality for those who cannot undergo funeral ceremonies at the new Holtze facility.

He said some prison workers did not understand concepts like poison cousins — a cultural system that means certain Indigenous people cannot talk to each other — forcing prisoners into conflicting situations.

"Sometimes [the prisoners] have big problems but they can't voice their opinion," Mr Wilde said.

Prison inmates from the Barkly meet with elders from back home, as part of the Elders Visiting Program. ( ABC News: Emilia Terzon )

One of the ways that prisoners — at least those who are medium and low security graded — can voice their opinions is through the NT Corrections managed initiative, Elders Visiting Program.

Set in an open meeting space, this month the program saw inmates meet with six elders from their home community, almost 1,000km away, in the Barkly region.

For some, it was the first visit from home in months or years, and an opportunity to comfortably voice concerns, speak in language, or even try to reconnect with family.

"It makes me happy. I'm passing message through [the elders] to my children," one participant said.

For the elders, there was no judgement about crimes or convictions, just a quiet belief that people's best chance for rehabilitation relies on a connection to family and community.

"I believe regardless of what people do, we give people chances," Barkly elder Patricia Braun said.

Culturally appropriate programs 'need expansion'

Despite applauding the Elders Visiting Program, Mr Hamburger's report stated that it needs more departmental support and funding, with some regions only having elders visiting the prison a few times a year, and others having none at all.

"A new way, driven by the Indigenous people to empower and engage them to provide culturally appropriate responses and services to their people is necessary," his report reads.

"We are of the view that this cannot be achieved through the current [system] and public sector organisation arrangements."

Tony O'Callaghan says Aboriginal employment should be increased but it won't be an easy task. ( ABC News: Emilia Terzon )

It is a damning conclusion that also has flow-on recommendations to staffing arrangements at Holtze prison, with only 30 of the 250 correctional officers employed there of Indigenous background.

Medium security boss and Arrernte man, Tony O'Callaghan, is one of that 12 per cent, as well as one of the prison's most experienced officers.

He believes the NT prison system has moved past its days of "us and them" and that many non-Indigenous officers are culturally sensitive, however said some things cannot be learned in an employee induction.

"A lot of these blokes are traditional from communities and won't talk to females. And unfortunately 90 per cent of our prisoner support officers are females," he said.

A culturally appropriate prison is also a safer prison, he added, due to the tensions that can occur if issues like payback or poison cousins are not identified early.

He said bringing back ALOs and increasing the amount of Indigenous officers — another major Hamburger recommendation — would help things, however that this will not happen overnight.

"We had a lot of Indigenous applicants, when I was working in the training facility, who just really struggled with the legislation and written requirements," he said.

The Hamburger Report states that the NT Corrections system is failing Indigenous Australians. ( ABC News: Avani Dias )

Other concerns raised to the ABC during its visit to Holtze included basic things, such as the design of sleeping quarters stopping family connections, and the facility's vast grounds cutting off access to rehabilitative programs for some prisoners.

Speaking after the leak of Mr Hamburger's report, Attorney-General Natasha Fyles defended the design of the NT Labor-commissioned facility, and blamed issues with programs and staffing on the last CLP Government.

Elected by a landslide in August, the new Labor Government has launched a review of internal correctional services, opening up the door for a return of roles like the ALOs and more tailored programs.

Ms Fyles did not have a timeline or budget for implementing Hamburger's recommendations, has not committed to returning certain jobs to Holtze, and claimed that the loss of ALOs was mostly on name value, with Prison Support Officers (PSOs) now managing this role.

Yet none of Holtze prison's current PSOs are Indigenous, with Mr Hamburger's stating it is not a role for those "without connections to the Indigenous community and a deep understanding of their culture".