Poverty pushes people to Alice Springs, Indigenous forum told

A forum on Indigenous issues in Central Australia has been told remote community services must be improved to stop the urban drift to Alice Springs.

The forum has heard the Northern Territory's Indigenous population will double to 120,000 by 2030 and Alice Springs will become an Aboriginal town.

Arrernte Council executive director Heather Laughton says social and economic deprivation in Aboriginal communities is causing the overcrowding in Alice Springs.

"If we can address the real issue about the business structure of the communities so that they can actually operate without social disadvantage and economic disadvantage, I think what we're seeing today could probably be better dealt with," she said.

"We just can't assume that neon lights bring people into town. It's poverty that brings people into town."