A growing chorus of Aboriginal leaders, organisations and community members are labelling the royal commission a sham before it's begun.
They're furious that the federal government chose to consult with the Northern Territory government over the terms of reference for the commission instead of asking organisations that work on the ground with the Aboriginal community.
In a blistering letter to prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, three peak NT Aboriginal organisations said they are "bitterly disappointed" and "furious" after he ignored their pleas to stand down NT chief minister Adam Giles.
"We are hurt and furious because, yet again, we have been ignored - this time on the most important matter of the safety of our children," John Paterson, chief executive of the Aboriginal medical services alliance NT (AMSANT) said.
"Prime minister Turnbull has comprehensively failed us,” Paterson said.
It comes after shocking footage of Aboriginal children being subjected to brutal treatment in the Don Dale juvenile detention centre outside of Darwin was aired on the ABC’s Four Corners program on Monday night.
On Wednesday, a coalition of peak NT Aboriginal organisations issued a statement urging Turnbull to conduct the royal commission “with us, not to us”.
“We can have no confidence in the Northern Territory government, given not only their protracted inaction in relation to the matters raised, but also the manner in which the public has been actively misled in relation to events,” the letter reads.
Despite the footage of young people in detention triggering a royal commission, the NT government reportedly planned to counter-sue two of the Aboriginal detainees featured in the vision for $160,000, alleging they caused extensive damage to parts of the Don Dale detention centre.
In 2014, the two boys were, along with four others, tear gassed for up to eight minutes after spending days in solitary confinement with no natural light, air-conditioning or running water for up to 23-hours a day.
The group also questioned the independence of former NT chief supreme court judge Brian Martin as commissioner.
“The appointment of Brian Martin does not satisfy any threshold of independence. On the facts and on perception, the appointment is unacceptable,” Olga Haven, AMSANT deputy chair, said.
“Only a few weeks ago Brian Martin delivered to the NT Government a report about the establishment of a regime to investigate corruption, at the instigation of the now disgraced and former NT Corrections Minister, John Elferink. Mr Martin accepted that commission and was paid for it, so how can Mr Turnbull boast his independence from government?"