A group of crossbench MPs have written to the federal Attorney-General, along with his state and territory counterparts, urging them to commit an additional $174 million to support the country's struggling community legal services.

It comes after an independent review into the funding of legal services found the current levels are drastically insufficient to meet the needs of Australia's population, especially for marginalised groups like Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Ahead of an expected meeting of federal, state and territory Attorneys-General on Friday, the group of parliamentarians cited Warren Mundy's Independent Review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020-2025 (NLAP).

The Mundy review recommended $215.3m in urgent funding for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, well above the $41.4 million provided in the recent federal budget — only $15.4 million of which was earmarked for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS).

"I hope that this report lays the foundation for governments across Australia to overhaul how access to justice is supported in this country, particularly for Indigenous Australians, women and children," Dr Mundy said.

The federal budget was heavily criticised by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS), the peak body representing Aboriginal legal services, with deputy chair Nerita Waight saying the body was "angry and distressed" the funding "crisis" would continue for at least another year.

On Wednesday, the 28 MPs said that while they "appreciate" the government's recent statements on the epidemic that is violence against women, "we trust you understand that women and children without access to legal-assistance services have limited pathways to escape violence".

"Over 52,000 women facing domestic violence were turned away from legal services last year due to capacity shortages in the sector. To provide safe pathways away from violence for women and children, governments must provide adequate funding for legal assistance services," the letter stated.

They also highlighted Dr Mundy's statement that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience greater unmet legal need than any other community group, and despite both the Justice Policy Partnership and the NLAP, ATSILS and Family Violence Prevention Legal Services (FVPLS) have been inadequately funded for more than a decade.

"The approaches adopted by governments actively work against self-determination," the letter said.

"ATSILS have pointed out the dangerous consequences of the lack of funding related to service freezes, which have dire impacts on First Nations communities.

"First Nations women are 45 times more likely to experience family violence than non-First Nations women, and at least 25 times more likely to be killed or injured by a former or intimate partner."

The MPs urged the government to provide the urgent funding recommended by Dr Mundy "as a matter of priority and urgency," as well as formalising a response to, and working in partnership with, the sector, to implement all his 39 recommendations.

One signatory, independent Senator Lidia Thorpe, criticised the Labor government, arguing they had talked a "big game about helping women and children experiencing family violence," but had not adequately funded legal services to make this help a reality.

"Right now, over 50,000 women are being turned away from these life-saving services each year, and are being put in danger," the Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurring senator said.

"First Peoples across the country are being denied access to legal services – this is leaving families vulnerable to violence and child removal, and leading to further criminalisation of our people, risking further deaths in custody."

The decision by Mark Dreyfus to withhold the report for three months after receiving it from Dr Mundy was previously criticised by Ms Waight, and Senator Thorpe reiterated this on Wednesday.

"The Attorney-General did all he could to keep this report secret until after the May budget, and now we know why – it exposed the urgent need for emergency funding for the sector," Senator Thorpe said.

"The government has failed to provide this, and has failed the most vulnerable people in our community. It's shameful neglect. And now is the time they should turn that around."

ACT independent senator David Pocock said the government needed to "match its rhetoric on wanting to end violence against women and children with the funding it will take to actually do this".

"This means filling the funding gaps now for frontline service providers and community legal centres so people in desperate need of help to be safe can get it and not be turned away, as so many are currently," Senator Pocock said.