Initiatives for Women in Need has called for safeguards to protect vulnerable people from paying hefty dowries to the families of student visa holders, some of whom demand more and more from their partner upon arrival in Australia, making them particularly vulnerable to domestic violence.

Organisation chairwoman Madhumita Iyengar said she had dealt with many instances of such abuse in Canberra but emphasised it was not isolated to any particular migrant community.

"Unfortunately I cannot disclose how many because of privacy reasons, but there are quite a few cases. It’s a real thing that’s happening," Dr Iyengar said.

Student visa holders can apply for their spouse or de facto to travel to Australia as a secondary visa holder. There were arranged partnerships where this worked, Dr Iyengar said, and others where the couple tolerated each other until they could apply for permanent residency.

Partners attached to a student visa can work only 40 hours a fortnight unless in a relationship with a masters or doctorate student. Dr Inyengar said the resulting financial constraints could make them more vulnerable to slavery, forced labour, domestic violence and wage theft once in Australia.

In the worst cases, the partnership turned violent, she said.

Initiatives for Women In Need has told a federal government inquiry that existing visa holders could use dowry as a "harsh stick" to harm the dependent partner.

"This is where the abuse starts: [the original visa holder will] demand more and more and it becomes a vicious cycle," Dr Inyengar said.

Initiatives for Women In Need, which works with disadvantaged migrant women living in the ACT, wants it to be mandatory for community organisations that work with culturally and linguistically diverse people and receive government funding to hold regular awareness-raising events on dowry abuse and the services available to victims of domestic violence.

It also wants new migrants, including spouses on temporary visas, to have to sign an affidavit stating the value of their personal assets as part of their visa application. This could reduce disputes over finances were the partnership to end in divorce, Dr Inyengar said.

The organisation has also recommended that any demand of dowry is legally punishable, like all forms of financial abuse covered by laws preventing domestic violence. Dr Inyengar said it was crucial that broader policy responses to dowry abuse did not target particular communities in Australia, noting no clear data was kept on who was particularly affected.

The payment of dowry happens in some South Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries and was outlawed in India in 1961.

A senate committee examining the practice of dowry and dowry abuse will report to the government later this year.