Support workers fielded an average of 25 phone calls and went on five crisis callouts each day throughout January and December.

Police also responded to an average of 14 domestic violence incidents daily and arrested 23 people in the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.

ACT Domestic Violence Crisis Service executive director Mirjana Wilson said work consistently ramped up from November and didn't generally ease until the end of February.

"It's holiday time, it's hot time, so that's definitely our peak period. It's a very difficult time for those in our sector," she said.

"I don't think we can ever say it's happening more, it's just being reported more."

Ms Wilson said a mix of factors drove the rise in reports as pressures from fractious family get-togethers, the financial strain of holiday expenses and child custody arrangements pushed victims over the edge.

Alcohol could exacerbate tensions, while open windows and more time outdoors due to summer heat meant abuse that often took place behind closed doors was more easily detected and reported.

She said there was often overwhelming pressure "to do family a certain way" during the school holidays and end-of-year reflection often prompted abuse sufferers to reassess their relationships.

"I do think what does happen for a lot of women is another year has passed and a lot of them think, 'I can't do this for another year. I need help'."

The service's crisis line workers took 1455 calls in January and December, up from 1290 calls the same period the previous year at an average of 21 calls a day.

Staff also attended 318 crisis callouts with police in the past two months, or roughly five each day, which was an increase from 279 last summer holiday period.

ACT Policing figures showed the average of 14 incidents a day in the last week of December was a jump from eight to 12 family violence incidents police typically responded to during the rest of the year.

Of the 96 family violence incidents logged in that week, 38 were disturbances, 17 were physical assaults and 10 were welfare checks.

Police were also called to eight family violence order breaches and seven instances of property damage.

The remaining incidents included stalking, intoxication and a sexual assault. One person was charged and two others handed notices to attend court for alleged family violence offences.

Ms Wilson said all rooms provided by the ACT government as emergency housing to cope with extra demand in the holidays had been filled, with some women still awaiting new accommodation to go to.

Beryl Women's Refuge manager Robyn Martin said the service had been swamped and had turned women away from within the ACT and interstate.

"It's been busy. Just before Christmas we took in two new clients and all the women we're accommodating have really high, complex needs," she said.

Ms Wilson said people accessing the crisis service were presenting with far more complex and diverse situations, requiring more in-depth support that took in housing, mental illness and substance use.

"We're drilling down and we're realising there's a huge complexity to these matters."

The ACT government promised $21 million over four years for domestic violence prevention in last year's budget, with funds largely split between crisis services, education programs and government reforms.

Ms Wilson said the extra funding was helping the service to provide more comprehensive and longer term support to families.

"I still don't think we're meeting the demand that's out there but then I don't think we ever will."

She was concerned citizens and politicians had moved on after Rosie Batty's stint as Australian of the Year and several headline-grabbing deaths allegedly linked to family violence in the ACT in 2015.

"My fear is that we'll see domestic violence going off the mainstream radar and we will have built up people's expectations of services available and we need to maintain that.

Ms Wilson said there had been five deaths linked to family abuse in Australia so far this year.

Sustained funding, services and programs were needed to help foster the generational change needed to lessen the problem and ease pressure on crisis response services, she said.

"We can't fix this problem in a three-year funding cycle. It's just not possible."