A royal commission into domestic violence is "urgently needed" following the murders of four women in one week in South Australia.
More than 100 advocates mourned, sang and chanted outside the state's Parliament House on Friday after the death of 55-year-old mother Jodie Jewell at the hands of her husband on Tuesday rounded off a horrific seven days for the state.
Domestic violence services peak body Embolden SA general manager Mary Leaker said a national probe that centres on the voices and experiences of survivors is urgently needed to make real and lasting change.
"We are all gathered here to say enough is enough," she told the crowd after a choir of domestic violence survivors led the congregation in a rendition of Lean on Me.
"We believe that the last week is the worst week for fatal domestic and family violence in one jurisdiction in Australia's history.
"Let this past week be a call to action for our entire community."
Statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare released on Friday showed family and domestic violence was one of the main reasons women and children lose their home.
SA Minister for Domestic Violence Prevention Katrine Hildyard said the government would consider implementing a royal commission and pointed to measures it was already working on, including cracking down on people who breach intervention orders, reviewing strangulation laws and promising to introduce laws criminalising coercive control.
Abbey Kendall, director of the Working Women's Centre, said the government could not afford to delay a royal commission, arguing waiting would lead to more murders.
"We are sick of vigils. We want action," she said.
SA Greens MLC Tammy Franks said the party would move for a royal commission when parliament sits next week if the government does not.
Latrobe University family violence researcher Leesa Hooker said a royal commission examining the issue at a national level would be a "fabulous start".
"Because it is a crisis," Dr Hooker told AAP.
"If it was men being murdered once a week it would have been stamped out a long time ago.
"Misogyny and the patriarchal structures in Australia are still alive and well."
Violence against women was in the national spotlight last month after the shocking death of 21-year-old school teacher Lilie James - one of five women killed in 10 days in Australia.
Last year, state and territory governments released a revised national plan to end violence against women and children over the next 10 years.
The nation's largest coronial inquest into domestic violence has just wrapped up in the Northern Territory, where domestic violence homicide rates are seven times higher than the national average.
The Victorian government in 2017 pledged to carry out all 227 reforms recommended by the state's own family violence royal commission.
Member for Goldstein Zoe Daniel will introduce a bill to federal parliament on Monday calling for urgent action and investment.
Flinders University social work expert Sarah Wendt said inequality between men and women, preconceptions about gender roles and societal attitudes excusing men's violence lead to women being treated with less respect and dignity in relationships.
"Challenging these beliefs and changing the associated behaviours are the keys to achieving gender equality and reducing violence against women," she said.
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