A former pastor of the Lutheran Church in Alice Springs says alcohol abuse is destroying lives on a major scale in Central Australia and is beginning to "verge on genocide".

Basil Schild says the Federal Government is 20 years too late in its call to assess the practices of pubs and bars in the town.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin is calling for the Northern Territory Government to send assessors into some hotels because she is concerned they are fuelling alcohol-related harm.

Mr Schild says he has looked back at the church's funeral records for the past 15 years and he believes alcohol was a contributing factor in about 80 per cent of Aboriginal deaths.

"It is high time the Territory Government took this seriously," he said.

"It is not about a few drunks in a park in Darwin making a bit of noise.

"It is not about a few kids smashing up a few windows, bored off their brains.

"It is about living and dying, and the destruction of life on a scale in Central Australia that is beginning to verge on genocide."

Territory Health Minister Dave Tollner says there is no doubt alcohol abuse is causing major problems in Central Australia but it is wrong to solely blame the liquor industry.

He says alcohol abuse is the symptom of a deeper problem.

"Alcohol is something, I think, that people turn to, and illicit drugs and petrol sniffing, and all of that sort of stuff ... (that) people turn to when they're feeling hopeless, when they feel that there is no benefit of being alive on this planet," he said.

"That is the real issue and the crux of things that we have to assess."