Canberra's crisis services for domestic violence say they need more than a million dollars in funding to continue their work as pressure mounts on state and territory leaders to provide a substantial support package at national cabinet.
State and territory leaders were set to meet the Prime Minister on Friday to discuss support for women and families fleeing gender-based violence.
Minister for Women Katy Gallagher told ABC Radio National a substantial package addressing domestic violence would be unveiled to the national cabinet in Canberra.
She said the support measures would focus on frontline domestic violence services.
"I think we've heard loud and clear that people want extra investment in frontline services ... it's been shown through a number of reviews," she said.
"We want it to be the Commonwealth showing the leadership, prepared to put some dollars on the table and we want to shift the dial here. We want to see an end to gender-based violence in this country."
Funding shortfall for services
The ACT's providers said they are having to turn away women daily, with local domestic violence services desperate for funding to meet the increased demand.
Canberra's Domestic Violence Crisis Service CEO Sue Webeck said staff "cannot keep pace" with demand.
She said the cost of delivering interventions has increased with inflation, with no substantial reform to their funding.
"We would at least require a million dollars in addition to our existing funding to maintain the program to the level that it is right now," Ms Webeck said.
"In order to meet the community demand, we're almost at the point where you would be looking at the duplication of the service."
Women's Legal Centre ACT CEO Elena Rosenman said her service was unable to help many Canberrans who come to it due to resource constraints.
She said services need more cash to ensure women who need help can easily access it.
"Here at the centre every day, we are turning away women because we don't have the capacity to meet their significant legal needs," she said.
"The key lever [the government] has their hands on right now is the lever around funding to front line services.
"We urgently need them to pull that, and we need them to pull it now."
Rapid review on the table
ACT Chief Minster Andrew Barr was set to attend the national cabinet, saying he was looking forward to addressing the issue alongside other national leaders.
"This will be the next step on agreeing to practical and concrete solutions to protect women and families," he said.
National cabinet will pick up where it left off in May, where leaders agreed to new legislation banning deepfake technology and almost a billion dollars to help women leave violent relationships.
State and territory leaders will also be discussing the findings of the federal government's rapid review into evidence-based approaches to prevent gender-based violence, which was released in late August.
The report has recommended better prevention measures in communities, with increased support of young people and children affected by DV, and partnering with men to build healthy ideas of masculinity.
