Family violence prevention organisation Djirra says the landmark Senate report into missing and murdered Indigenous women and children is just the start, criticising a lack of action to rectify missing data.

The report, delivered to a near-empty senate on Thursday after a two-year inquiry that received 87 submissions and heard from countless people intimately impacted by the scourge of violence against Indigenous women and children, was welcomed, but heavily criticised by many who said the recommendations failed to take in the breadth of the issue.

Multiple large newspapers in the country didn't cover the report, despite a recommendation being an improvement in the way media covers the murder and disappearance of Indigenous women and children compared to non-Indigenous women and children.

Djirra said the inquiry was an "important first step in bringing the devastating realities of the epidemic of violence facing First Nations women and children to national attention," but was "only a very first step".

They were critical of a lack of recommendations compelling action to address gaps in data that policy and legislative decision makers use to enact policy directly impacting Indigenous women and children's safety.

"There is no accurate data on the actual number of Aboriginal women and children who have been murdered or brutally disappeared across this country," Djirra said in a statement, reflecting their previous criticism of the Closing the Gap report which saw official data on violence against Aboriginal women and children not been updated in six years.

"When our experiences are "counted", they are almost always tallied through a deficit lens. This data does not tell our story. It does not capture our strength, resilience and courage as Aboriginal women."

On Friday, Djirra chief executive and Change the Record Co-Chair Antoinette Braybrook said Djirra was pleased to see more specific recommendations in the report calling for the federal government to urgently act on many of the previous recommendations from the Independent Review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership, as well as allocating more funding to frontline Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services.

"Federal, state, and territory governments must work together, commit to change, and urgently invest in Djirra and other specialist, frontline Family Violence Prevention and Legal Services that put our women's and children's lives first," Ms Braybrook said.

Yesterday we finally received the full report of the Missing & Murdered First Nations Women & Children Inquiry. It was an important first step to shine a light on the devastating reality of the violence faced by our women & children. But it was only a FIRST step @DjirraVIC 1/5 pic.twitter.com/ZZk0bgk1fI

— Antoinette Braybrook AM. YES (@BraybrookA) August 16, 2024

The report highlighted a lack of services for Aboriginal women and children in regional and remote areas, which has previously been highlighted by Djirra. Multiple inquiries and testimony have revealed a lack of help and shelter has resulted in women staying with violent partners out of fear of being homeless and losing their children to child protection.

The report was also highly critical of policing in the country, with numerous people testifying to the inquiry about their experiences with racism and over-policing from police forces across the country.

The Western Australian police was widely condemned for choosing to not front the inquiry in Perth, despite a history of incidents highlighted by human rights groups, instead arguing they had already put a number of changes in place.

The report recommended the Attorney-General tasks the Police Ministers Council to "conduct a review of existing police practices in each jurisdiction, consider the learnings from each jurisdiction and aim to implement and harmonise best police practices across Australia" by the end of next year.

Ms Braybrook was adamant police cannot be a part of the solution, arguing Djirra doesn't support any recommendation that sees Governments invest even more public money into policing.

"When our families report that an Aboriginal woman has died or is missing, police responses are often inadequate," she said.

"Essentially our lives are not valued, and we are not believed."

Djirra said State, Territory, and Federal governments needed to establish an independent, Indigenous-created, mechanism to hold police to account.

Police across the country have long pushed back against independent oversight bodies.

"Police culture must change. They must treat every report of violence against a First Nations woman or child seriously, and properly investigate," Ms Braybrook said.

"This must include apparent suicides, accidents, and deaths by overdose where there is a history of family violence.

"Pouring more and more public resources into policing and unfair, punitive and racist systems is not the answer. It does not improve the safety of our women and children. Independent oversight mechanisms – led by Aboriginal women –can help improve police accountability."