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Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser says while Opposition Leader Sussan Ley won't be attending Garma, she is committed to engaging with First Nations Australians.

Ley will instead spend this weekend in Aboriginal communities in Western Australia.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will address the festival tomorrow, but Leeser says Garma is just one way for leaders to engage with Indigenous issues.

"I think it is really important political leaders of all stripes, whether the prime minister or opposition leader, engage with as many indigenous communities and leaders as possible," he says. 

"Sussan Ley is with Kerrynne Liddle, our shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, in the Kimberley, looking at issues around the highest suicide rates and some other positive stories that Kimberley Indigenous businesses have to tell."

Representatives of the Chief of the Army earlier held a session to acknowledge the role of First Nations people in the Australian Defence Forces.

In honour of the service of Indigenous soldiers during World War II, the reps from NORFORCE announced a new initiative with the Australian War Memorial in Canberra that seeks to "recognise the courage and sacrifice of all Yolngu military personnel".

The project will involve commissioning of artworks that preserve the heritage of Yolngu and military service during the war, particularly those part of the Northern Territory Special Reconaissance Unit (NTSRU).

The NTSRU was a warfare unit active from 1941 to 1943, which was composed largely of Aboriginal people from the NT who patrolled the large coastline of Arnhem Land.

Dr Jack Gulkula Thompson AM has made the opening address to the bunggul, a ceremonial event sacred to the Yolngu people that's been practiced for thousands of years

He says the annual Garma "brings warmth and strength to our country".

"We thank the first Australians for being great Australians and for continuing to share their ancient ceremony with us," he says.

"We come here to celebrate a wonderful milestone because this year is the 25th year of the Garma festival.

"This Garma event has the vision and purpose like no other ... here in an ancient land, under southern stars, on a sacred ground."

Thompson is a former actor who was adopted by the Yunupingu family.

After a procession through the grounds of the festival, dancers, officials and guests are gathering at the ceremonial area.

Northern Territory Minister for Indigenous Affairs Steve Edgington has not been able to name who his government consulted with, before it made changes to youth justice laws in Parliament this week.

He concedes consultation on youth laws has largely been done by the corrections system, but says he's engaging with Aboriginal people “every day of the week”.

"We're talking about housing, we're talking about education, and we’re talking about getting out there and addressing the root causes of crime," he says.

The lack of consultation with key stakeholders is a complaint made against the CLP consistently, across almost all sectors.

We’ve heard it from experts in the Domestic Violence sector, from Aboriginal Land Councils, from the hospitality and gambling sectors, the arts industry — the CLP consistently changes laws or funding without having prior discussions with those who will be impacted.

Just today, the Aboriginal Peak Organisation Northern Territory Aboriginal Corporation (APONT) criticised the Finocchiaro government for its "kneejerk" reaction in changing youth justice laws.

Opposition leader Ms Uibo has joined in the criticisms, taking shot at the lack of Aboriginal representation within Parliament as well.

"What we're starting to see here in the Northern Territory is the CLP completely shut out all forms of engagement," she says.

"[It] will lead to bad policies, which we just saw yesterday in the NT Parliament with the youth justice amendment acts."

Both Edgington and Uibo are asked whether, given much of the NT's budget comes from the Commonwealth, that should come with strings attached as to how the money's spent.

It's a similar theme to one raised by productivity commissioner Selwyn Button earlier, when he said the federal government might consider cutting funding to states and territories that fail to meet targets on Closing the Gap.

Neither of the NT MLAs appear keen on the idea of Commonwealth GST money coming with caveats on how it's spent.

"The role of government is try and identify those areas of need to make sure it goes where it's needed most," Edgington says.

Uibo says it risks making the NT "the poor cousin, always waiting on the Commonwealth".

 The Northern Territory's Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Steve Edgington is speaking on a panel now alongside the NT's Labor opposition leader Selena Uibo.

He's asked what the Territory CLP government has done to improve life outcomes for Indigenous people since it returned to power in August last year. 

Edgington says the government is committed to "changing the landscape when it comes to remote communities".

"People living in remote areas feel like they’ve lost control of their communities," he says.

"We want to increase opportunities for leaders in those communities to make decisions when it comes to funding and how services should be delivered."

Asked on youth justice reform and youth crime, he says a root cause is a Territory-wide housing shortage, which he says drives poor health, education and employment outcomes.

Edgington says he "doesn't have the data in front of him" when asked if the CLP government undertook consultations with Aboriginal groups leading up to the youth justice laws that passed parliament yesterday.