Advisory Councils are established under legislation to perform the following functions:

• to keep the operation of the relevant Act under review;
• make recommendations to the Minister on possible improvements to the administration of the relevant Act, and
• to carry out investigations, at the request of the Minister, into matters relevant to each Act and to report to the Minister on the results of the investigations.
  

The advisory councils comprise of the Executive Director of NT WorkSafe and no more than 10 other members appointed by the responsible Minister.

These other members are appointed for a two year period based on their experience in a specific industry and an effort is made to enure that there are representatives from each major industry operating in the Northern Territory. Further effort is made to ensure that there is equal representation from organisations representing the interest of employers and organisations representing the interest of workers.

After their term of appointment, members are eligible for reappointment to an advisory council if they are invited by the Minister.

Advisory councils have the power to establish subcommittees to assist in carrying out the councils functions under the relevant Act.