Gregoriana Parker, a Tiwi Islands woman who lives in Darwin, told The Australian that teaching her children and grandchildren the Tiwi language was very important to their maintenance of culture. "Tiwi is our first language. It helps our kids to understand who they are. It is very important for them to understand how to speak it," said Ms Parker, a congress member. "It's important that it is taught in our schools in communities too."

The congress wants a national interpreter service to be set up to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders the same access to services as other Australians, as well as the establishment of a national indigenous languages centre.

"Congress's submission, and the numerous reports over the years, highlight the dire state of protection and maintenance of our languages across the nation," she told The Australian. "Our submission supports calls for bilingual education in the NT but also wherever communities have asked for it."

The submission says the commonwealth must act immediately "to stop the disappearance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, as a matter of national significance to all Australians, and as an intrinsic part of Aboriginal people's human rights, identity, self-esteem, and wellbeing."

"The delay in implementing on-the-ground solutions for communities to allow them to . . . implement a range of language maintenance, revival and revitalisation activities, is unacceptable."

Congress has also called for an overhaul of the government's language-funding regime.

It wants a change to the NT Labor government's policy of requiring the first four hours of school to be taught in English.

"Experts have provided evidence that shows learning an Aboriginal language enhances Aboriginal children's English language learning." In 2001, according to census data, 11.1 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people over the age of five spoke a first peoples language, while in 2006 this figure was only 9.2 per cent.

"Congress expects to see a continued trend of decline in the 2011 census figures, due to a range of factors, including the lack of sufficient funding for Aboriginal language programs . . . and the cessation of bilingual education in the NT in 2010, where the largest number of speakers of 'strong' languages reside."