Those who were stolen from their families as children across the Northern Territory are continuing to die without ever being compensated.

Key points: The Northern Territory is one of the last jurisdictions without a compensation scheme for Stolen Generations survivors

The Northern Territory is one of the last jurisdictions without a compensation scheme for Stolen Generations survivors Eileen Cummings says compensation is needed to pay for support services to help victims and their families

Eileen Cummings says compensation is needed to pay for support services to help victims and their families Studies show intergenerational trauma is a flow-on effect of the past atrocities

As the passing days turn into a decade, Stolen Generations survivor Eileen Cummings fears there will be no victims left by the time government puts a national compensation scheme into place.

Not only would compensation help survivors move forward, but Ms Cummings said the money was dearly needed to help the families of survivors pay for support services — with studies showing intergenerational trauma was a flow-on effect from past atrocities.

Last week marked the 11-year anniversary since then-prime minister Kevin Rudd gave an apology to those who suffered from past government policies of forced child removal and assimilation.

A report last year by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimates that over 17,000 members of the Stolen Generations are still alive today and that they experience higher levels of adversity in almost all of 38 key health and welfare outcomes.

The Northern Territory is one of the last jurisdictions without a compensation scheme, along with Victoria and the ACT.

Ms Cummings is one of those Aboriginal people removed from their families as children and raised by missionaries on remote Croker Island, off the Top End's north coast.

She is also the chairperson of the NT Stolen Generations Aboriginal Corporation and said the list of people she represents is dwindling.

"No matter what we do, we can't move forward," she said.

"We just buried somebody last week, so you know it's just about one every two weeks, or one every week …

"And on top of that, a lot of the older Stolen Generation people like myself are now suffering with dementia.

"A lot of them can't really remember things.

"So when I said to the government some years ago, what are you waiting for? Us all to pass? Because nothing seems to be happening for us … they said 'No, no, no we still want to talk to you'.

"But who's really talked to us? Nobody."

Eileen Cummings wants to see Stolen Generations survivors compensated. ( ABC News: Al Dowler )

'We don't even get our foot in the door'

Last year, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten made an election promise to produce a national compensation scheme within its first 100 days, with a total pot of $22 million.

Since then, Ms Cummings says they have been forgotten by federal representatives.

"The government never really came to the party in relation to anything. When you have an apology, you get something out of it … but nothing really," she said.

"Most of the other states have given some sort of compensation but because we're under the Commonwealth, we have to keep trying to deal with them.

"They've been able to negotiate with their states, but we don't even get a foot in the front door with this Government or the Prime Minister.

"We had a lawyer to have a look at all of that, we wrote letters to them and all that sort of thing — but they didn't really listen.

"They didn't come and converse with us, talk with us to see what our issues were.

"It's not about the money — stop the trauma."

Ms Cummings fears there will be no victims left by the time a national compensation scheme is in place. ( ABC News: Al Dowler )

'We're not just talking about money'

In New South Wales, victims of the Stolen Generations are eligible for ex gratia payments of $75,000, as well as one-off payments of $7,000 to assist with the cost of funerals.

Despite the contrast to reparations for those on the east coast, Ms Cummings says Territorians have different priorities.

"People keep thinking 'all we need is money'. We're not just talking about money. We're talking about the services," she said.

"A lot of our young people are either in the justice system of some kind, and they just don't know how to deal with a lot of this and then we're losing them through suicide."

Intergenerational trauma is the flow-on effect that past atrocities have on the families of Stolen Generations survivors.

According to the AIHW report, descendants consistently experience poorer health and social outcomes.

For example, compared to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, they are almost twice as likely to have experienced discrimination or violence in the past 12 months.

"The Government has to address it because it's not only something that's affecting us, the Stolen Generations, it's affecting our descendants — our children," Ms Cummings said.

The Healing Foundation, a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation that partners with communities to address this ongoing trauma, has been engaged to tell the stories of the Northern Territory survivors.

CEO of The Healing Foundation, Richard Weston, says the evidence paints a picture of complex needs for the Stolen Generations, and their descendants.

"The atrocities faced by the Stolen Generations is a significant part of 230 years of constant and deliberate disruption, dislocation and mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that has created compounded and collective trauma in our communities," he said.

"If we don't break the trauma cycle soon the problems will keep getting bigger and so will the cost to the Australian taxpayer."