Secure funding to provide interpreters for non-English speaking domestic violence victims in the ACT remains in limbo, with crisis workers angered that access to the service has not been prioritised as a basic human right.
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It comes as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this week described domestic violence levels as a "national disgrace" and announced about $100 million in federal government funding to tackle the problem.
Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT executive director Mirjana Wilson said women from culturally and linguistically diverse communities faced significant barriers to accessing support and legal counsel for domestic violence matters.
She described women who were non-permanent residents on spousal or student visas, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers as some of the service's most vulnerable clients.
Women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds made up nearly 16 per cent of the service's clients last financial year.
The federal government foreshadowed earlier this year that its funding arrangement for the service's access to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection's 24-hour Translating and Interpreting Service for clients would run out in June.
The government has continued to fund the service since on a piecemeal arrangement has been extended to the end of the month as it remains bogged down in negotiations with the ACT government over who will foot the bill going forward.
Ms Wilson said the crisis service has experienced a huge surge in demand from women from different cultural backgrounds in recent years and demand for the telephone interpreter service within the ACT had more than doubled since 2009.
The crisis service used 395 separate telephone interpreter calls at a price of $19,845 in the 2014/15 financial year, a cost that was paid for by the Department of Social Services.
The Canberra service logged 162 interpreter calls in the 2009-10 financial year and 200 jobs in 2012-13.
That had risen to 335 calls in 2014-15 and 395 in the last financial year.
It has logged more than 40 jobs since the start of July.
Ms Wilson said the service was among a handful of small organisations across Australia who had experienced continued uncertainty over funding for the interpreters in recent months.
If neither the federal or territory government committed to funding interpreters, the service still faced the prospect of having to fund-raise about $20,000, or glean the savings from other vital services to pay for it themselves.
"We should not have to fundraise for what is essentially a human right – that is, to be able to access information and support and that language should not be a barrier," Ms Wilson said.
"I am remaining confident that the ball will not be dropped and that either the federal government keeps paying or that our own local government will pick it up.
"DVCS will of course commit to paying however we can, even if the outcome is not a good one, as we will not create any added barriers for some of the most vulnerable community members."
Community and advocacy groups have criticised the federal government's recent funding package for not providing enough attention to critical areas such as crisis accommodation and community legal centres.
