Northern Territory Council of Social Service (NTCOSS)

We do not accept poverty, inequity or injustice in the Territory and believe all people should be treated with dignity and respect.

The NTCOSS team is located in both Darwin and Alice Springs, and for more than 40 years has worked with its membership base, government, and other stakeholders to strive for better outcomes for Territorians.

NTCOSS represents a varied service sector, with members contributing different experiences and perspectives.

The Community Sector represents 20,000 Territory workers and volunteers and is one of the largest employers in the NT. It is made up of community managed, non-government, not-for-profit organisations that work in social and community service delivery, sector development, and advocacy.

The Community Sector plays a vital role in creating social wellbeing for all Territorians and in building safe and healthy communities. The Sector provides services that enable people to access and participate in society, including health, education, employment, economic development and family and community life.

NTCOSS members are central to our work and advocacy. As a representative voice of the Sector to government, NTCOSS seeks to strengthen the Sector so that it can continue providing its essential services to the NT community.

More than one quarter of our population is Aboriginal – the highest in the nation – and a third of NTCOSS’s members are Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations.

We support self-determination for Australia’s First Nations people and Closing the Gap.

We have failed our Aboriginal people, who continue to be affected by disadvantage and intergenerational trauma, which are the repercussions of historical policies such as the forced removal of children from families and the failed NT Intervention.

NTCOSS has recently helped achieve policy and legislative successes for Territorians working in partnership with our members to:


– raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12 in the NT, with an ultimate aim of 14 years in line with international benchmarks


– pass the Anti-Discrimination Amendment Bill 2022, which modernised the law to provide far greater equality of opportunity and protections from unfair discrimination


– introduce reforms that remove mandatory sentencing and mandatory non-parole periods for some offences to stop people being trapped in the criminal justice system