A jump in reports of domestic violence has bucked a decade-long downward trend in crime across the ACT and put pressure on police and social workers to provide adequate support for victims.
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ACT Policing responded to 3289 reports of family violence in the 12 months to July this year, an increase of more than 160 incidents on the previous year.
That meant an average of 63 domestic violence incidents, which could range from minor disturbances or property damage to serious assaults on women and children, reported in the capital every week.
Despite a fall in most major crime categories in the territory in the past 10 years, reported incidents of domestic violence have remained relatively steady, with roughly 3000 cases reported annually for the past five years.
Chief Police Officer Rudi Lammers said more reports in the past year was a positive sign that more victims felt comfortable telling police about the matter.
He said an average of between 50 and 60 call-outs per week meant domestic violence matters took up ''a good chunk'' of the territory's police resources.
''But it's something we take very seriously,'' he said.
Domestic Violence Crisis Centre executive director Mirjana Wilson said the service had experienced an almost 50 per cent increase in demand for its services in the past five years, despite a lack of extra resources and funding from the ACT government.
The centre received 14,791 crisis calls in the 2013-14 financial year, up almost 1000 on the previous year.
Support staff had also provided crisis intervention for 793 families following police referrals in the past year. That was 93 more cases than the year before.
Ms Wilson said an ''ever-increasing'' demand meant the centre struggled to maintain its 24/7 service to victims and had been forced to triage and prioritise requests.
''The key question for the service remains one of how long can we continue to operate as an ‘uncapped’, best practice, quality service to the ACT community when there are no extra resources to meet consistent growth in demand.''
Staff did not want to be forced to adopt a less-effective ''one size fits all'' approach, Ms Wilson said.
While she doubted there had been a change in the number of domestic violence incidents which occurred, Ms Wilson said a higher number of reports could indicate greater awareness and a greater willingness from victims to seek support.
She said steady population growth in the ACT could also have contributed to the spike, but was unlikely to account for the increase in demand on its own.
Chief Police Officer Lammers said police in the ACT took a hardline approach to family violence, which meant offenders were frequently taken into police custody, and there was a presumption against bail in the courts.
The territory's police laid 339 assault charges in relation to family violence last year.
Chief Police Officer Lammers encouraged residents to support initiatives such as White Ribbon Night, which will take place across Australia tonight to raise awareness of domestic violence.
A spokeswoman for Women's Minister Joy Burch said the ACT government allocated $153,000 in this year's budget for the Domestic Violence Crisis Service and the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre.
