The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency says justice targets need to be a formal target within closing the gap efforts to form a national approach to high rates of First Nations incarceration.

Including justice targets within closing the gap efforts have been an ongoing debate with some saying simply keeping people out of jail to keep numbers down is wrong and others saying it’s something that needs be monitored.

Federal opposition leader Bill Shorten has announced if his party enters government, they will have justice targets on the agenda.

Jarred Sharp from NAAJA says setting targets will help addressing the underlying causes of crime.