Northern Territory legal services forced to turn away at-risk women amid looming ‘funding cliff’

Women’s legal services in the Northern Territory, which assist some of the country’s most vulnerable women and regularly deal with domestic violence cases, face funding shortfalls and are struggling to stay open. Photograph: Jonny Weeks/The Guardian

Women’s legal services in the Northern Territory, which has the highest rates of family and sexual violence in the country, are calling for certainty and support in the federal budget as they battle to keep their doors open in the face of a looming “funding cliff”.

Caitlin Weatherby-Fell, chief executive of the Top End Women’s Legal Service, said it was already facing an increasing workload, with family violence and domestic violence making up 75% of its open cases.