An "alarming" drop in the rate of Canberra Indigenous students receiving Year 12 certificates last year led to extra resources to support those struggling to remain engaged with school.
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Budget papers showed only 59 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander public school year 12 students received their passing certificate, down from 71 per cent in 2013 and far below the government's 80 per cent target.
It was the lowest rate since the indicator began to be published in the ACT in 2011.
An Education and Training Directorate spokeswoman said the increased number of enrolments last year was behind the percentage decline.
"The increase in [Indigenous years 11 and 12] is a positive for ACT public schools, showing more students are staying in education longer," she said.
The rate of Indigenous students who received an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank also fell, with 11 per cent of students, or nine of 82, meeting requirements for the university entrance grading.
The total number of ACT Indigenous students enrolled in Year 12 last year was up almost 50 per cent from 2013.
The spokeswoman said further resources were committed at the start of this year to work with colleges to support Indigenous students, focusing on pathways planning, career development and tutorial support.
The ACT's government-appointed Indigenous education consultative group chairwoman Fiona Peterson said the rate drop was a particularly concerning shift in an achievement indicator.
"It's certainly alarming, and we need to ensure there isn't more behind it," she said.
"We know that when you achieve a year 12 certificate you are more likely to participate in and succeed in further study and training and to gain a job of choice.
"We're keen to work closely with ACT schools, the directorate and our young people here to understand what might be behind this fall."
Vanessa Farrelly, 18, was one of the exceptional Indigenous students last year, graduating from Hawker College with an ATAR of 97.90.
Now studying a science degree at ANU, Ms Farrelly said she completed a range of community activities last year, including joining the Australian Youth Climate Coalition.
"A part of the climate coalition is called Seeds – it's like the Indigenous young people's climate summits, which was really supportive," she said.
"Hawker [College] didn't have much of an Indigenous population but definitely schools that do should have some Indigenous support program."
Across all year 12 public school students, 88.4 per cent received a year 12 certificate last year.
The ANU's Tjabal Indigenous Higher Education Centre director Anne Martin said the academic results were stronger at the university level, where she had observed growing retention rates for Indigenous students and an increased number studying honours.
