Federal Labor MP Julian Hill has slammed the "alarming" practice of dowry abuse, said to be rife in immigrant Hindu and Sikh communities, as "completely inappropriate in modern Australia".

Calling for an urgent Senate inquiry into how to best stamp out the practice, Mr Hill told parliament today that "dowry perpetuates a culture of ownership of women, which runs against the cause of equality".

"Women are not property; cultural or religious practices that suggest so are not welcome in Australia," the Victorian MP said.

Mr Hill has requested the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee urgently hold a focussed probe into dowry abuse to stop the family violence, murders and suicides it can lead to.

"This is not a benign, esoteric issue. Dowry extortion has been recognised as a direct cause of family violence and horrific murders and suicides. Alarming growth in reports has been seen in certain communities," said Mr Hill, referring to a recent ABC News investigation that revealed the devastating impacts of such abuse on women in Australian Hindu and Sikh communities.

The investigation — part of an ongoing series examining the links between religion and domestic violence — found there has been a spate of domestic abuse-related deaths in these communities over the past decade, as migration from the Indian sub-continent surges and men who gain residency in Australia lure wives from their homeland, often in return for a large dowries.

Outside Parliament Mr Hill pledged to work on the terms of reference with Labor Senator Louise Pratt, who chairs the committee.

His call is being backed "wholeheartedly" by another Liberal MP, Tim Wilson, who is also from Victoria, a state where a spate of murders related to domestic violence sent shock waves through Indian communities and raised concerns about dowry abuse.

Mr Wilson wants a focussed inquiry in either House, telling ABC News: "The sooner that is done, the better."

Victoria prepares to introduce anti-dowry laws

Pressure is mounting on the federal Parliament to act as the Victorian Government is poised to introduce legislation to ban dowry abuse, made illegal in India in 1961, but still not outlawed in Australia.

The proposed Victorian legislation is believed to be the first in the Western world to ban dowry abuse.

Even though dowry-giving is illegal in India and a handful of other countries, migrant brides from affluent families regularly come to Australia following arranged marriages to local residents.

Advocates and victims say it is common for grooms and their families to escalate payment demands.

Violence, abandonment and even death have resulted when brides and their families do not comply.

The Victorian Government has undertaken to implement all 227 recommendations of the Royal Commission into Family Violence by June 30, including making forced marriage and dowry-related abuse statutory examples of family violence.

Victorian Attorney-General Martin Pakula confirmed his government would introduce a Bill outlawing dowry abuse and forced marriage within months.

Mr Hill said it was not possible to bar the exchanging of gifts, "but you can stop grooms and families from demanding dowry, or bride price, as it's called, before or, often after marriages, when the family then get their hooks into a vulnerable new bride".

Marriage, slavery and immigration laws all need to be considered, he said.

New laws would treat dowry abuse as family violence

Melbourne-based international anti dowry campaigner Dr Manjula O'Connor described the legislative push to safeguard vulnerable migrant women as "huge".

If passed, the Victorian legislation will be of global significance because it is primarily aimed at protecting migrant brides, whereas dowry abuse laws in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were framed mainly for resident populations, she said.

If passed, Victoria's proposed anti-dowry abuse laws would 'alert men' that dowry abuse is a crime, says Dr O'Connor. ( Pexels.com: Yogendra Singh )

Dr O'Connor, who has seen the Bill, says it is in line with her calls to treat coercive demands for money, goods and property — and any associated verbal abuse or assaults — as acts of family violence.

"People are blown away. No-one can imagine it [would actually happen]," Dr O'Connor said.

Dr O'Connor deals with up to four new cases of women from the Indian sub-continent experiencing family violence every week, and said, if implemented, the Victorian legislation will assist those enduring dowry abuse immediately.

For instance, the husband of a highly educated bride whose father paid about $120,000 for wedding celebrations and gifts for the groom's family in India abused her and tried to control her when she arrived in Australia.

She left him and although she would not be able to reclaim money paid in dowry in India, the planned Victorian legislation could help her counter her husband's demands to keep a car that she had bought with some of her own money, according to Dr O'Connor.

Australian law already provides 'strong protections'

In recent recommendations, the federal Parliament's Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs acknowledged her organisation's call for "dowry extortion" to be considered for inclusion in the Family Law Act.

Mr Wilson, a member of that committee, spoke in Parliament earlier this year about the need to tackle dowry extortion.

Mr Hill said the standing committee fell short by leaving any further work on the issue to the Australian Law Reform Commission's family law system review.

The problem has been identified and it is now important to work out "which laws have to be amended and how," he said.

But Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter is not convinced any laws need to be changed.

"Australian law already provides strong protections against dowry-related abuse," he told the ABC, when asked whether he would consider including the term "dowry extortion" in the Family Law Act.

The Marriage Act already stipulates that a marriage will be considered void if the consent of either party was obtained by duress or fraud, he said.

In response, Mr Hill said that this did not seem enough, given the strength of stories of survivors of dowry abuse.

"If the Government's claim that all of the legislative frameworks are addressed is true, then what are they doing to respond to the horrific stories which we hear?"

Debra Jopson is a Sydney-based freelance journalist and author. You can follow her on Twitter: @DebraJopson.