The Northern Territory government will bring legislation next week to reinstate dry zones, which communities will be able to opt out of if they have an alcohol management plan and the support of 60 per cent of residents.
Central Australian Aboriginal Congress CEO Donna Ah Cee said central Australian communities had been "drowning in rivers of grog" since federal legislation mandating dry zones lapsed last year.
"We need the immediate reimposition of alcohol bans to break the cycle of violence and keep our people and families safe," she said.
She said the bans should remain in place while communities had to time to put in place plans to reduce the threat of violence.
Indigenous NT senator Jacinta Price is pushing for the reinstatement of blanket bans, introducing legislation in the Senate.
The Country Liberal Party senator attacked the prime minister for failing to tackle alcohol-related crime, including child sexual abuse, family violence and assault in central Australia.
Her proposed bill would also enable communities to opt out of the bans once they have an alcohol management plan in place, but it would also need to be approved by the federal minister.
A spike in alcohol-related violence would then be grounds to revoke the management plan.
"So there will be oversight federally," Senator Price said as she voiced her discontent with the territory's Labor government over how the situation had been handled.
She said her measures would enable a partnership between federal and local governments.
"This isn't about just throwing money at a problem, coming in to the territory, patting them on the back, telling them, 'You've done a naughty job, but here you go, have responsibility of our vulnerable again,'" Senator Price said.
"This is about working together to ensure that our most vulnerable are being protected."
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said reinstituting alcohol bans was a positive step but not a panacea as she prepares to meet with community organisations in Alice Springs at the end of the week.
"The idea that alcohol is the only issue that needs to be dealt with in in the Northern Territory is just not real," she said.
NT senator Malarndirri McCarthy said the alcohol bans would be a "circuit breaker".
"At some point there does need to be a longer term conversation around alcohol and what those communities would like to see in the future," she said.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is urging the government to go further, saying he welcomed the alcohol bans but more needed to be done to stop the violence in Indigenous communities.
"We've got children who we know are being sexually abused and we're putting them back into an environment where they're not safe," he told ABC radio.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said the bans should never have been allowed to lapse in the first place and wanted a guarantee than alcohol management plans were conducted without coercion.
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