The economic conditions of run-down Indigenous camps where a little girl was abducted and later killed have come under fire in a parliamentary inquiry, more than a decade after changes were recommended.
On the outskirts of Alice Springs are 17 communities, known as town camps, populated by 1050 permanent residents across multi-generational Aboriginal families.
The alleged murder of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby at Old Timers camp in April has renewed calls for better infrastructure and employment opportunities.
A complex system of subleasing and housing management agreements involving local groups and the federal and Northern Territory governments make it difficult for meaningful economic gains to be made by communities, a Senate estimates committee has heard.
Executive director of township leasing Pennie Weadon said her team had made repeated recommendations to the Northern Territory government for better economic opportunities in the camps.
