Women's legal experts have forecast a surge in demand for domestic violence services when financial coronavirus support is wound down.
A Senate inquiry into the federal pandemic support has heard grave warnings about the impending reduction in wage subsidies and unemployment payments.
Women's Legal Services Australia's Helen Matthews raised concerns about capacity to meet needs in coming months and years.
"We predict there is going to be a significant increase in demand for our services when financial support and restrictions currently in place are currently removed," she told the hearing on Tuesday.
Women's Legal Services Australia has already seen soaring levels of demand, with 50 per cent of calls in Queensland going unanswered in May when the state exited lockdown.
Ms Matthews said nationally there was a need for an extra 123 lawyers through a $25 million funding injection to meet existing demand.
There are also concerns demand will spike as restrictions preventing people from seeking help are lifted.
Australian Women Against Violence Alliance's Tina Dixson said women had used the boosted JobSeeker payment to put fresh food on the table and buy medication.
"Losing those supplements would mean they would have to go back to life below the poverty line," she said.
Many women trying to escape abusive relationships also used the temporarily increased payment to secure private rentals, which could be unaffordable when JobSeeker is cut.
Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre's Marie Segrave said payments being reduced could also fuel violent situations.
"The financial stresses are gong to compound situations that are already precarious," she said.
The centre's director Kate Fitz-Gibbon said the government's response had failed to acknowledge the pandemic's impact on children living with violence.
She warned a failure to support children would have serious impacts for years to come.
"The long-term adverse outcomes will impact all areas of their development and wellbeing," she said.
Associate Professor Fitz-Gibbon said while coronavirus restrictions were necessary, the measures also prevented women from accessing help.
Monash's Naomi Pfitzner said just half of the federal government's $150 million coronavirus domestic violence package had been distributed with no indication when the rest would flow.
Queensland Women's Legal Service chief executive Angela Lynch said the money was concentrated on counselling services and amounted to half a lawyer over two years for her organisation.
The committee also heard temporary visa holders suffering violence were under immense pressure after being excluded from coronavirus supports.
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