Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin says she is concerned many homicides in the Northern Territory are linked to alcohol.

A report by the Australian Institute of Criminology has found the Territory has the highest murder rate in the nation.

It also found an Indigenous person is four times more likely to be murdered than a non-Indigenous person.

Ms Macklin says the figures are alarming.

"One of the main motivators for this level of violence is alcohol abuse," she said.

"That's why we want to do everything possible, working with Aboriginal people, to address the very high levels of alcohol abuse where we find it."

The report confirmed Indigenous people in the Territory are most at risk of being murdered.

Nationally, between 2008 and 2010 there were 510 homicides.

That is the lowest rate since the national homicide monitoring program began in 1989.

The report shows murders using a firearm dropped to all all time low of 13 per cent, but stabbings were on the increase.

About a third of all homicides occurred in the home, and a quarter of all murders involved domestic partners.

An overwhelming majority of domestic homicides involved a woman being killed by her male partner.

Proportionally, the Territory had the highest murder rate.

While the rate of Indigenous homicides is at an all-time low, an Indigenous person is still far more in danger of being a murder victim than a non-Indigenous person.

In the Territory, the overall murder rate rose.

Nationally, the rate of homicides per 100,000 people has fallen.

In all state and territory jurisdictions except Queensland and the Territory the homicide rates also decreased.