Dunghutti woman Ashlee Donohue, the chief executive of Mudgin-Gal, a service run by Aboriginal women for Aboriginal women, has called for decisive action to end the epidemic of violence against women.

"I was so frustrated about so many women dying and nothing is being done" she told National Indigenous Times.

"You know we have only got to go back five-six years ago when the 'Coward Punch' first came into play and they shut down suburbs and changed legislation, because there was men killing men.

"There's men killing women and men killing men. And yet when they kill women, no suburbs are getting shut down, legislation isn't getting tightened, the laws aren't giving any kind of strengths around prevention."

The National Women's Safety Alliance reports that one woman every week, on average, nationwide is being murdered by a partner or former partner. Recently, six murders took place in the space of seven days, with three of those women being Indigenous.

Almost ten women a day are being hospitalised for injuries perpetrated by a spouse or domestic partner, with these figures presenting at much higher rates for First Nations women.

Femicide in Australia is not new. Twenty-four years ago the Australian Institute of Criminology published a report revealing that it is male offenders who are responsible for killing approximately ninety-four per cent of adult female victims, with three in five victims being killed by partners, and nearly all as a result of a domestic violence.

In May, Federal Minister for Women Senator Katy Gallagher announced the establishment of a National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032, with the goal of ending violence against women in one generation.

The Federal government has allocated $262.6 million over five years to women's safety in partnership with First Nations communities and has committed to the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan, which is being designed in consultation with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Advisory Council on Family, Domestic and family violence, the plan is expected by 1 August 2023.

There will also be an initial review to inform the development of a national standard for government data on lost, missing or murdered First Nations women. The National Indigenous Times has requested an anticipated date for the review.

Ms Donohue told National Indigenous Times the current approach to stopping violence against women is not working.

"They're not deterring anyone. I've heard men say 'I could do three years standing on my head'. I have heard those words come out of men. Because the lack of responsibility and consequence in Australia around men killing women... murdering women, it means nothing, because what are they doing?" she said.

A survivor of domestic violence herself, Ms Donohue said domestic violence can be entrenched in society.

"That's why I am so passionate about the education around domestic violence… Because if you grow up in a house where that's how you deal with issues, you will go out into the world and that's how you will deal with issues if you haven't got an alternative to dealing with those issues" she said.

The Australian Femicide Watch, a real-time database by award winning journalist Sherele Moody, has reported that this year alone, nine Indigenous women have been murdered predominantly at the hands of a partner or former partner.

Ms Donohue said there needs to be "an across-the-board definition of what domestic violence is, because now we have coercive control".

"They keep changing the names and it's confusing. It's power control, it's when one person has power over another. Whether it be through violence, physical violence, emotional, sexual, financial or whatever, stop labelling different terms for violence," she said.

"See everything that is in play at the moment is "After the fact. After the fact. When they leave. When they leave!" But what are we doing to support women who are in it?" she said.

If you or someone you know is in distress or in need of support, please contact 13 YARN (13 92 76) or 13YARN to speak to a crisis worker.