Domestic violence support centres in Alice Springs are in desperate need of funds to meet demand.
Money has been set aside to upgrade services in the next financial year, but hundreds seeking support have been turned away.
"Since the beginning of the year until the middle of April we've seen 157 children and 149 women, Dale Wakefield, co-ordinator of the Alice Springs shelter, told ABC Radio's AM on May 1.
"We've provided accommodation for those, but we've knocked back, and that means we haven't been able to provide accommodation for another 158 women and 100 children who've sought support from us",.
"Ninety-six per cent of our clients are Indigenous, 50% of that Indigenous mob are from town, and the other 50% are from remote communities".
As part of the federal government's intervention into Northern Territory Indigenous communities, alcohol bans and other restrictions are in place in remote indigenous communities. This has caused many people to leave for larger centres such as Darwin and Alice Springs.
The result is a far greater strain on housing and welfare services in those cities.
In Alice Springs, people often stay in the Aboriginal town camps that, although alcohol-free under the NT intervention, are closer to areas where drinking is legal. This has led to far more overcrowding.
John Adams manages family services for Tangentyere council, which covers the town camps. He told AM funding desperately had to be fast-tracked so services could meet demand.
"There have been occasions when we've tried to refer people at night, and the women's shelter's been at capacity, and we've had to look at other options, and there just aren't other options available", Adams said.
"Crisis accommodation in Alice Springs, at the moment, is at absolute crisis point, there's lots of services that are either closing down or have closed down.
"We've had a lot of people moving into town around the intervention stuff."
New NT laws on domestic violence have been criticised by family support groups for placing a heavy burden on an already struggling family services system.
The new laws, introduced in March, requires anyone who has knowledge of domestic violence to report it to authorities.
In all other states and territories, only professionals trained in child protection or family services (doctors, nurses, teachers, etc) are required to report domestic abuse.
The new NT laws make it a crime not to report suspected cases of domestic abuse. Everyone in the NT is now a mandatory reporter, whether they have been trained to recognise it or not.
The Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse (ADFVC) has criticised the new laws. It says health professionals may wish to avoid making a report to police if it is against a patient's wishes.
It is also concerned this may lead to victims of domestic abuse lying about the cause of their injuries or choosing not to seek medical help for fear of discovery.
The laws may also mean those who inflict domestic violence will try to stop victims from seeking medical aid to avoid detection.
In place of mandatory reporting of domestic abuse, the ADFVC supports a more comprehensive scheme of training for health workers, routine screening for domestic violence, and a comprehensive and coordinated referral network.
ADFVC said strong and consistent police and justice responses to domestic and family violence would be a more effective deterrent.