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Most Australians believe contact with Aboriginal culture is necessary for reconciliation, but they admit knowing little or nothing about it.
Galaxy research also found 94 per cent of parents with children still living at home wanted them to have an appreciation of indigenous people and their history.
Commissioned by Tourism NT, the release of the polling has been timed to coincide with National Sorry Day on May 26.
Conducted between February and March this year, the research found 66 per cent of people said the federal government's apology to indigenous Australians was important.
Eighty-one per cent of Australians felt it was necessary to experience Aboriginal culture for the process of reconciliation, while 90 per cent of people admitted they knew hardly anything about it.
Charles Darwin University Vice-Chancellor and indigenous studies academic, Steve Larkin, said the results were not surprising.
"People have always suspected that these figures were the case," he told AAP.
"For various reasons there hasn't been direct access for many people to indigenous culture...
"(But) people are now saying we want to know more, we want our children to know more, and they are thinking about what sort of society they want Australia to be."
Larkin said there needed to be opportunities "for people to have contact and to progress forward".
"It's about an Australian identity," he said.
"In order for us to have a dialogue we need to understand where we are coming from, so we can work together."
Aborigines make up a third of the NT population and own about half of the land in the Northern Territory, as well as the majority of the national parks.
Natasha Neidjie, of Guluyami Tours in Kakadu National Park, said it was important for her to be able to share her culture with other Australians.
"Aboriginal culture is not just a part of our history, it's a part of Australia's history," she said.
"To be able to experience some of the things that Aboriginal people have done over the hundreds of thousands of years that they have been here, is something you can say you've really done when you come to Kakadu."
Jenny Hunter, who runs Kakadu Culture Camps in the middle of the park, said more Australian families had been signing up recently for a "genuine" cultural experience.
"We always encourage the Aussies to come, and it's slowly getting there," she said.
There are 103 indigenous tourism products available in the NT, and Travel with Kidz managing director Wendy Buckley said every Australian student should experience indigenous culture first hand.
"Textbooks teach history and TVs show visual, but nothing beats sharing the real thing," she said.
