The harried Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children is seeking another four months to complete its report into juvenile justice in the Northern Territory.
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It has asked the Turnbull government for an extension until August 1 but does not need extra funds.
The letters patent establishing the royal commission soon after it was announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last July required commissioners to finalise their report and recommendations by March 31.
A spokesperson for federal Attorney-General George Brandis confirmed on Wednesday that he had received a request to extend the reporting date: "This is being considered as a matter of priority."
The two commissioners, Margaret White and Mick Gooda, have been overwhelmed by the workload as Aborigines and social justice advocates weighed into the fray.
Their work has been further complicated by difficulties associated with taking evidence from children and the NT government's continued attempts to protect the reputations of public servants from being named in hearsay testimony.
This week's appearance of Dylan Voller, the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre inmate who was seen in Four Corners footage manacled to a chair and wearing a spit-hood, was delayed for hours by legal argument.
Hearings in Darwin over the past two weeks have seen regular clashes of counsel arguing over legal matters. Staff and legal counsel are working seven-day weeks, starting times have varied with little notice, and reports and statements made available to counsel representing detainees and senior public servants only hours before evidence is taken.
The royal commission issued a terse statement announcing it was seeking an extension of time.
"This is now a matter for the government and no further comment will be made," the statement said.
The royal commission adjourned indefinitely on Wednesday after initially being scheduled to take evidence until Thursday.
Earlier, principal lawyer at the Alice Springs branch of the NT Legal Aid Commission, Russell Goldflam, told the inquiry "inflammatory rhetoric" used by the previous Liberal National Party government to demonise young offenders created "a political space" that allowed young detainees to be assaulted by jail guards.
