Labor Senator Nova Peris says she will not recontest her Northern Territory seat at the election

Labor senator Nova Peris says she will not recontest her Northern Territory seat at the July 2 election.

Senator Peris said she had never envisaged being a career politician and decided to quit after talking to her family.

She will serve out her term and fully support the replacement for number one position on the Labor Senate ticket "whoever that might be".

"As the first Aboriginal female in federal politics ... I certainly had challenges, but none that I couldn't handle or was not prepared for, having already lived a very public and documented life," Senator Peris said in a statement today.