Uncertainty about funding continues to put Aboriginal women at risk, a leading family violence organisation in Victoria says.

Last month, the federal government announced a National Access to Justice Partnership (NAJP) will commence on expiry of the current National Legal Assistance Partnership (NLAP) on July 1, 2025.

The announcement, which also included a change in the way community legal organisations are funded, saw the government pledge $4.4 billion in new funding to address the "scourge of gender-based violence" and respond to the Rapid Review into Prevention Approaches.

While welcomed, community and Indigenous legal organisations said the new funds were a re-badging of existing funding plus coverage for indexation and wage parity.

Furthermore, they said there was no new funding to expand services to meet growing demand, nor any details on the "implications of a new funding stream for Aboriginal Legal Services".

Nine months before the expiry of the NLAP, Aboriginal family violence prevention service Djirra says the uncertainty around funding for specialist family violence legal assistance providers "continues to put Aboriginal women and children's lives at risk".

They argue Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services (FVPLSs) require funding and certainty immediately.

Chief executive Antoinette Braybrook said there were still no specific details about increased funding for Djirra and other FVPLSs, arguing this puts women and children's lives at risk.

"Without certainty and clarity, our workforce is impacted- we cannot retain staff and attract experienced people to work with us on extremely complex legal matters," she said.

Djirra said a clear timeframe and process for "reallocating resources" from mainstream legal services to Aboriginal Legal Services (ALSs) and FVPLSs was needed to ensure all First Nations people access an Indigenous-led legal service as their first choice nationwide.

"The inclusion of Closing the Gap in the new NAJP is welcome, but it must be more than just words. It means tangible, measurable actions and a timetable for delivery."

Djirra CEO Antoinette Braybrook. (Image: Con Chronis/AAP)

The legal organisation said the FJAP, which is scheduled for five years, needs to be longer; offer pay parity to women - who make up 90 per cent of FVPLSs workforce; indexation of funds to keep up with inflation; and further recognition of the "greater complexity and duration of supporting Aboriginal clients through hostile systems".

Furthermore, they called for more funding to address the crisis of Aboriginal women's safety in Australia by ensuring every Indigenous woman experiencing family and sexual violence can access the support only FVPLSs provide.

The Homicide of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women report, released last week by the Australian Institute of Criminology's (AIC) found between 1 July 1989 and 30 June 2023 a total of 476 Indigenous women were victims of homicide, with seventy-two percent killed by their current or former intimate partner.

"Supporting Aboriginal women and children experiencing family violence is devastating and requires a specialised lens," she said.

"It is extremely complex work that often takes place over a long period of time. It is essential that governments recognise this. Often, our work is the difference between survival or death."

The AIC report comes in the wake of a damming senate inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and children, which called for a review of policing practices, as well as a First Nations role at the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission and changes to the way the media reports on First Nations deaths.

Djirra urged federal and state governments to "explicitly recognise the unique experiences and pressures" that Aboriginal family violence workforces experience in navigating "hostile and racist systems".

"The new agreement must align with the federal government's recognition of gender-based violence as a national crisis. Promises will not save women's lives, action will," Ms Braybrook said.