Advocates have called on the ACT government to end the cycle by adopting "sensible" reforms proven to have a positive and practical impact on the lives of Indigenous Australians across the border.

The reforms were laid out in the Australian Law Reform Commission's recent report on Indigenous incarceration.

ACT justice statistics show a 69 per cent increase between June 2013 and June 2017 in the number of Indigenous Canberrans charged for traffic offences, which includes driving unlicensed or drink driving.

There was a 4 per cent drop in non-Indigenous Canberrans being charged for traffic offences over the same period.

The number of people imprisoned for traffic offences increased by 244 per cent for all Canberrans over the same period. A report last year showed 21 per cent of Canberra's adult prisoners are Indigenous.

Aboriginal Legal Services ACT/ NSW chair Bunja Smith said he has seen Indigenous Canberrans stuck in a "vicious cycle".

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Mr Smith said this leads to Indigenous Canberrans, unable to pay fines but with suspended licenses, still driving to provide for their family or travel for cultural reasons, with families normally only having one able driver.

"They need an avenue to pay off their fines irregardless of their present location," Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith said he encountered this scenario regularly in his work but it was a simple fix for the ACT government which he credited with being progressive on Indigenous issues.

In the year leading up to June 2017, 81 per cent of licence suspensions in the ACT were because of unpaid fines.

In the year to June 2017, 277 Indigenous people were charged by police for traffic offences, compared to 163 in the year up to June 2013, a 69 per cent increase.

The Australian Law Reform Commission's recent report on Indigenous incarceration recommended state and territory governments adopt measures to avoid licence suspension and provide alternative ways to pay fines and infringement notices.

LegalAid ACT deputy director Louise Taylor said the statistics showed the position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT criminal justice system was getting worse, not better.

"Many offenders, Indigenous and non-indigenous, see themselves fined for offences that were committed arising from a combination of factors – one of the common and significant factors is poverty and low socio-economic circumstances," Ms Taylor said.

"The imposition of fines, often accompanied by suspension of licence, in these circumstances only further entrenched disadvantage and exacerbates social vulnerability."

ACT laws allow Canberrans to be jailed for defaulting on fines but the government said this has never happened.

In their submission to the ALRC's report, the Aboriginal Legal Service suggested the ACT government adopts the same scheme used in NSW, called work development orders.

Ms Taylor also said LegalAid ACT was supportive of ways for Indigenous prisoners to "cut out" their fines while serving time for another charge.

"The ALRC report identifies a range of reasons that highlight why a ‘cut out’ regime is a sensible option that can have a positive, practical impact on the lives of vulnerable offenders – especially as they leave prison and attempt re-integration into the community," Ms Taylor said.

The ACT government said prisoners can apply for community work or social development plans, allowing them to perform community work or undergo drug and alcohol treatment which are set a dollar value that goes towards paying fines.

But the ALS argued in their submission the eligibility criteria was limited, available only to people with problems including alcoholism, drug-addiction, homelessness or fleeing domestic violence.

It also noted the places available to complete work development orders was limited in both the ACT and NSW.

The ACT government also pointed to their Road Ready program to help ex-inmates undergo learners courses but said there were only four classes per year with a max of ten students per class.

Last year it was revealed Canberra's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are being apprehended 35 per cent more often than they were four years previously, despite a flat lining of non-Indigenous apprehensions.