Absorbing smaller Aboriginal communities into larger and more sustainable townships will be considered by the federal government as part of its intervention into the Northern Territory.

On the first anniversary of the radical reforms to combat child sex abuse, task force heads Sue Gordon and Major General Dave Chalmers have given the Rudd government a report on it progress.

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It also contains a series of recommendations for the future, including health checks for all indigenous children on an annual basis, a community store in each viable community and increasing the number of police.

But the most controversial aspect of the report is that only those communities that pass a viability test should get access to services such as schools and health clinics.

Macklin comments

"What they are concerned about, and I think rightly so, is to make sure that all children are attending school and all children are able to get the basic health services that we expect for every other child in Australia," federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin told reporters in Darwin.

The report states that the government should assess which communities are viable in the longer term and "plan future investment based on those assessments".

Asked if this meant moving people from smaller communities to larger centres, Ms Macklin replied: "It certainly recommends that this is an issue that needs to be examined."

The task force said communities deemed to be viable should be resourced with adequate housing, police stations, health clinics, early-childhood education centres, stores, primary schools and access to a secondary school.

"I think it's critical to look at this from the point of view of making sure that children go to school and that parents can get work," Ms Macklin said.

She sidestepped questions about whether this meant outstations would be untenable but conceded current efforts were focused on the communities with the largest populations.

"We are concentrating the new homes in the larger communities, they are growing rapidly, there is very significant population growth," she said.

"There will be upgrades in some of the other communities but we are concentrating the largest effort in some of the larger communities."

A call for additional investment to alleviate overcrowding in remote communities was also part of the report.

It said a $650 million program unveiled earlier this year by the Labor government was inadequate, with new houses yet to be delivered in most communities.

"Overcrowding is an issue in all communities and town camps, and the majority of communities are not receiving new housing," it said.

Ms Macklin said the Rudd government understood "just how critical" the issue was.

"It's impossible for a child to be safe if they're living in a home that's shockingly overcrowded," she said.

Surprise recommendations

The report also contained a number of surprise recommendations to do with alcohol and welfare.

It said community-specific alcohol-management plans could present a better model than outright alcohol bans, and advised more rehabilitation centres.

It also found "urgent consideration" should be given to the future income management (IM) system, under which 50 per cent of people's welfare payments are quarantined to prevent it being spent on alcohol, gambling or drugs.
Dr Gordon and Major General Chalmers said IM should eventually become voluntary.

They also warned that follow-up care from the child health checks would stagnate unless the government recruited an ongoing workforce.

Ms Macklin moved to reassure the Aboriginal community that no one would be forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to the larger "viable communities".

"The idea of moving anyone is way off the mark," she said.

"What's important is to make sure that children go to school and that parents have the capacity and the opportunity to get a job - that's what I'll be working towards."