Rosie Batty believes outcomes for women affected by domestic violence would be "catastrophic" if crisis support services didn't exist.
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Ms Batty visited the ACT Domestic Violence Crisis Service in Canberra to show her support for the territory's frontline workers on Thursday.
She said crisis organisations provided far more than a counselling service and highlighted the vital role workers played in keeping women safe when they needed it most.
"If we couldn't do that, it would be catastrophic."
"We fail victims already by not being able to respond effectively throughout the whole process, but if we didn't have this kind of expertise we'd clearly go backwards.
"We'd certainly see more women killed and more children killed - without any doubt."
The crisis service was one of three ACT domestic violence prevention organisations to receive a share of $250,000 in Tuesday's budget.
Executive director Mirjana Wilson welcomed that boost, which would fund two new staff members, but urged the government to commit to sustained funding to provide better long-term support to victims.
Ms Batty said the "epidemic" of family violence hadn't been acknowledged by governments and society and they couldn't expect the situation to improve over night.
"To operate and run organisations with no future security is really difficult because they don't retain staff.
"So there's no long-term planning and understanding of strategically looking ahead.
"It's just them working all the time in their own crisis."
She urged more support for front line domestic violence prevention services across Australia, which she said clearly weren't sufficiently funded.
"These organisations have worked quietly in the background doing an essential job but they haven't wanted to promote what they do.
"So it's quite a precarious position they're in because no-one really knows the expertise they've got and the essential work they're doing."
Ms Wilson said Ms Batty asked to visit the service in her role as a member of a national advisory panel on domestic violence and as Australian of the Year.
"Rosie's a very strong advocate for front-line services and especially for front-line services being able to communicate with each other," Ms Wilson said.
"Because crisis services will know things, police will know things, the courts will know things, and that information just isn't shared.
"That's what Rosie experienced, there was information she just wasn't privy to and that eventually ended in her child dying in the most horrific way."
Ms Batty last month spoke at a fund-raising ball for the organisation in Canberra which raised $85,000.
That money will go towards the service's outreach program for young people affected by violence and support groups for women and children.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or family violence, call the ACT Domestic Violence 24 Hour Crisis Line on 02 6280 0900. In an emergency, call 000.
