A year after a landmark Senate inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and children, advocates say the federal government needs to decisively act on key recommendations.

The inquiry called for reforms, including a review of policing practices, a dedicated First Nations role at the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission, and stronger guidelines on media reporting of First Nations deaths. Of the ten recommendations, only two were supported in full, with the others supported in principle or noted.

Antoinette Braybrook AM, Chief Executive of family violence prevention service Djirra, said her organisation's demand remains unchanged.

"The federal government must urgently invest in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women's safety," she said.

"It must prioritise the finalisation of the dedicated National Plan to end violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and implement the recommendations from the Missing and Murdered report."

Ms Braybrook also urged the government to create a dedicated funding stream in the Department of Social Services for Family Violence Prevention Legal Services, particularly for early intervention and non-legal programs.

"Aboriginal women's lives matter – our safety must be prioritised," she said.

The Senate inquiry followed a 2022 Four Corners investigation into Indigenous women's deaths and a coronial inquest into the murders of four Aboriginal women in the Northern Territory. It received 87 submissions and held hearings across five states and territories, documenting widespread failures in justice responses.

At least 315 First Nations women have been murdered or died in suspicious circumstances since 2000.

Senator Paul Scarr said during the inquiry that in "too many" instances, perpetrators escaped accountability.

"What happened to these women and children is reprehensible. Often it was predictable and preventable. And it continues to happen," he said.

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The Albanese government has committed $21 million to strengthen sexual violence support services and, in its official response, pointed to $4.4 billion in broader gender-based violence funding. They highlighted the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan 2023-2025, which looks to address current safety needs and "lays a strong foundation for long-term change".

"The Albanese Government is committed to working with First Nations people and organisations to address the horrific rates of family violence experienced by First Nations women and children," Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, said at the time.

Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher, added: "We are resolute in our commitment to ending the scourge of violence against women and children in every part of the country – whether in our cities, towns, or remote communities."

A new National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Safety Plan — led by First Nations people to provide direction for future policy approaches — is scheduled to be released this year.

The inquiry's recommendations strongly criticised policing responses to family violence, with many First Nations women testifying about discriminatory treatment and inadequate protection.

One key proposal called for the Attorney-General to instruct the Police Ministers Council to review and harmonise best practices across jurisdictions by the end of 2025. That recommendation was "noted" by the government rather than endorsed.

The urgency of reform was underscored this week in a coronial inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Emitja, who was killed by her partner in May 2022. Counsel assisting the coroner, Peggy Dwyer, said Ms Emitja endured "serial domestic abuse" and her pleas for help to police in the months before her death were treated with "nil immediate priority".

On one occasion, body-worn camera footage showed Emitja calmly speaking to police while her partner threatened to kill the officers. Despite reporting violence, she, not her partner, was the one placed in a police vehicle.

Her case echoes findings in Victoria, where a recent report exposed "extensive failures by Victoria Police to take family violence seriously, particularly men's family violence against women."

Ms Braybrook told National Indigenous Times earlier this month that at least a quarter of Djirra's clients had experienced "misidentification" by police.

"When it comes to Aboriginal women's experiences of family violence, this is not misidentification, this is not a mistake, this is racial targeting," she said.

"Aboriginal women are not believed, we are punished and criminalised rather than supported for our safety."

Earlier this year, the Australian Law Reform Commission found there is a deep mistrust in justice responses to sexual violence. Its report revealed that 92 per cent of women chose not to report sexual assault to police, and of those who did, up to 85 per cent of cases never progressed to a charge.

The Wiyi Yani U Thangani Institute for First Nations Gender Justice warned these failings were pushing women away from support systems.

"Mainstream systems continue to create harm and make women reluctant to access supports and services available or contact police and courts when violence occurs," the Institute submitted.

"Thus, our current systems and institutes are compromising the safety of victims."

Nationally, First Nations women are seven times more likely to be homicide victims than non-Indigenous women, and of those women, 75 per cent are killed by a current or former partner.

First Nations women are 33 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family and domestic violence than non-Indigenous women.