Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, is expected to announce her retirement in the coming days according to reports in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Minister Burney, who was one of the faces of the failed Voice referendum last year, has faced a barrage of criticism in recent months about the situation in Alice Springs with both conservative politicians and Indigenous-led organisations criticising a perceived lack of action by the federal government.

National Indigenous Times was made aware a fortnight ago from multiple sources that there was internal angst in the Labor party about Ms Burney's handling of the crisis, and Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, has regularly appeared in public for portfolio announcements in recent weeks.

On Wednesday night, the SMH reported if Ms Burney moved to the backbench immediately, it would allow the Prime Minister to revamp his cabinet before the next election.

National Indigenous Times understands she may use the Garma Festival next week to announce her retirement.

Ms Burney previously served in a variety of senior portfolios in NSW parliament, becoming the first Indigenous person to do so, before switching and winning the southern Sydney seat of Barton in 2016, becoming the first Aboriginal woman in the House of Representatives.

"I am a member of the mighty Wiradjuri Aboriginal nation," she said in her inaugural speech in NSW Parliament.

"Growing up as an Aboriginal child looking into the mirror of our country was difficult and alienating. Your reflection in the mirror was at best ugly and distorted, and at worst non-existent."

The Minister, from Wiradjuri and Scottish descent, has suffered a series of tragedies in her life, making her legacy even more remarkable.

She lost her long-time partner in 2006, before tragically losing her 33-year-old son, Bini, in 2017.

Ms Burney has also struggled with her health, telling the ABC last year she had surgery which affected her voice as she was getting too much oxygen into her lungs.

It followed on from a mini stroke she suffered in 2020, where she subsequently underwent surgery for a hole in her heart.

Since winning government in 2022, where Mr Burney won Barton with a two-party-preferred margin of more than 15.5 per cent, receiving just over 50 per cent of the primary vote, Labor has enacted a series of policies aimed at helping First Nations communities.

These include the abolishing of the cashless debit card - which was viewed as negatively impacting Indigenous communities - as well as announcing a series of large spends on Indigenous housing and health, focusing on rural and regional areas.

Many Indigenous-led health organisations have lauded the government's funding and moves to enable self-determination in Indigenous health, which has previously been missing from. Australian governments.

The government's decision to hold a Voice to Parliament referendum was also widely commended by many when it was announced, having been long promised.

However, a dirty and misinformation-filled campaign saw the country vote 61-39 in against the proposal, and it is understood Burney, 67, was personally hurt by the defeat, with some expecting her to step down immediately following the result.

She has maintained for months that she is "completely committed to the job", even as criticism of some aspects of her portfolio have begun to mount.

Labor has been criticised by progressives for a lack of action on treaty discussions, with the government's position largely seen as deferring to the different state's.

She said in February her government would "take things as fast or as slow as the community wants to," but noted whilst Labor completely accepted the referendum result on Voice, it did "leave the truth-telling and treaty components".

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe said at the time it was a "huge disappointment" to see Labor's intent to "kick the can down the road, dodge questions, delay progress".

The government has also had to deal with the fallout of two curfews in Alice Springs, which has led to direct criticism against Ms Burney, from both the federal opposition and organisations on the ground in the red centre.

SNAICC chief executive Catherine Liddle said earlier this month that there had been a "lack of transparency and accountability to the community," and there had not been visible progress since a meeting between the NT and federal governments, and community groups, in March, was less expected.

"SNAICC said at the time this meeting should have been the first step in designing community-led solutions to issues that have been decades in the making. This does not seem to have happened," she said.

Ms McCarthy would be widely expected to be elevated to the front bench, with Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour and Victorian Senator Jana Stewart possible choices to fill the Assistant Minister's role.