A Gold Coast help centre has reported a 40 per cent spike in women seeking help for domestic violence between November to January, with workers struggling to meet demand.
Domestic Violence Prevention Centre chief executive officer Rosie O'Malley said an additional 125 new women were reaching out for help each week.
"We really are triaging crisis response to high-risk responses at the moment," she said.
"The whole DV workforce in Queensland is very fatigued and quite fragile."
About 7,000 women typically receive help from the centre each year but that number is increasing.
Ms O'Malley said media attention around high-profile domestic violence cases like Hannah Clarke and Kelly Wilkinson might have encouraged more women to reach out.
Raising their voices
DV Lawyer principal Kathleen Simpson said her Gold Coast firm had seen "the most extreme increase" in women seeking help.
"When there's more in the media about domestic violence, it brings confidence to people to actually raise their voice," she said.
Ms Simpson said she was receiving on average 10 calls a day for help, typically from women with young children.
"We don't get a lot of sleep lately ... most days we are at full capacity.
"Some days we start at 4am and we go to midnight."
Ms Simpson said they were also hearing from more women who did not "feel safe going to police."
"They fear the risk will increase if the police are involved."
More 'high-risk' cases
Ms Simpson said she had seen "a lot of cases" involving complaints about choking and strangulation on the Gold Coast.
"We're seeing a lot more high-risk cases coming in that are needing urgent attention immediately," she said.
She added that some women did not recognise domestic violence in all its forms.
She said some people were coming forward despite having separated 10 years ago.
"Those ongoing behaviours have persisted over those 10 years," Ms Simpson said.
"It doesn't necessarily mean there is any expiry date."
Calls for more funding
Ms O'Malley said the sector was desperate for more funding.
"We've made it very clear that in terms of the next funding round, out of the national funding agreement, we need more core funding," she said.
"[That's] not money to do new things.
"We really just need to boost our core funding to meet demand.
"The budget needs to expand to accommodate the current demand that we're facing."
