Alcohol should be completely banned in the Central Australian town of Tennant Creek for five years, health professionals have told a packed public meeting.

The Northern Territory Government has imposed two weeks of urgent alcohol restrictions on the town following a spike in alcohol-fuelled violence and crime that resulted in the death of a man and the alleged rape of a two-year-old girl.

Only one of the following per person per day can be sold: 30 cans or stubbies of mid-strength or light beer

30 cans or stubbies of mid-strength or light beer 24 cans or stubbies of full-strength beer

24 cans or stubbies of full-strength beer 12 cans or bottles of ready-to-drink mixes

12 cans or bottles of ready-to-drink mixes One 2L cask of wine

One 2L cask of wine One bottle of fortified wine

One bottle of fortified wine One bottle of green ginger wine

One bottle of green ginger wine Two 750ml bottles of wine

Two 750ml bottles of wine One 750ml bottle of spirits

One 750ml bottle of spirits The sale of port, wine in a glass container larger than 1L, and beer in bottles of 750ml or more remains prohibited

About 200 people attended the meeting convened by the Barkly Regional Council on Thursday night, which aimed to promote candid discussion of the town's problems, and consideration of possible solutions the community could propose to the Government for funding.

Tennant Creek doctor Roel Codron told the meeting the time had long passed for tinkering around the edges of trialling alcohol restrictions.

"The problems of Tennant Creek are based on alcohol, and the easy availability is causing problems right from pregnancy until death," he said.

Mr Codron said he was sick of treating an endless stream of drunk pregnant women, children with foetal alcohol syndrome disorder, people injured in alcohol-fuelled assaults, and young people and adults who have attempted suicide while drunk.

"My solution is that we have to stand together and say 'enough is enough'," he told the ABC.

"We need to allow the town to recover, and so we need a five-year moratorium on alcohol.

"I would like to see both entrances to Tennant Creek policed 24 hours a day, and in that way the town can take a stand to say that we are a dry community."

Sorry, this video has expired Tennant Creek residents speak at public meeting

'I feel so sad to see Tennant Creek get to this stage'

Cafe and restaurant owner Tony Watson told the meeting he and his wife have been assaulted numerous times at their businesses by drunks.

"We've both been injured, so we've had to close one of the businesses," he said.

"We're trying to fix the issues we're facing to safeguard our patrons, our staff, and ourselves."

Mr Watson told the meeting that because Tennant Creek was a small town of 3,000 people, he and other business owners had gotten to know the adult and juvenile offenders who broke into their premises and hassled customers night after night.

But he said it appeared nothing could be done about it by police or the courts, even though local juvenile offenders were identified regularly on his CCTV footage.

"There are so many silos in town," Mr Watson said.

"There are plenty of people and organisations offering great services to try to tackle these problems, but who's knitting it together and making sure they work?"

It appeared the town of 3,000 people was drinking more alcohol and taking more drugs than a population of 10,000 should be, said Indigenous resident Joyce Taylor.

"It's time for our people to start dobbing in the ones who are doing this," she said.

"I feel so sad to see Tennant Creek get to this stage; my house has been broken into three times recently. I can't get the police to come. I can't get insurance."

Police officer Don Eaton says when people don't report crime he can't get more officers. ( ABC News: Jane Bardon )

Many reports that local police officers received about break-ins, alcohol being illegally brought into dry town camp communities, and other problems came days too late, said Senior Sergeant Don Eaton, Tennant Creek's most senior police officer.

"People say to me, 'when youths break and enter again and again nothing happens, so we don't report it'," he told the meeting.

"But by not reporting it the statistics aren't recorded, and then I can't get more police — and I would like more police, by the way."

The meeting also heard appeals from the community for more Indigenous public housing to be built to alleviate overcrowding; for safe houses and soup kitchens to be provided for young people roaming the streets; and for both the Territory and Federal Governments to be prepared to make a long-term commitment to funding programs and infrastructure to tackle entrenched disadvantage and dysfunction.