The number of businesses offering domestic violence leave in the Northern Territory is growing, with 22 organisations now including some form of policy.

One of those businesses is the YWCA Darwin, which introduced a five-day domestic violence and a five-day family dispute resolution leave policy in November 2015.

"We make it very clear when people join us as staff that that is available to them and that it is kept confidential," YWCA chief executive Jessica Watkinson said.

The first domestic and family violence leave policies were introduced by businesses in Enterprise Agreements in 2011, and numbers had been steadily growing since then, said the NT Working Women's Centre (NTWWC).

Instituting domestic violence leave policies increased the chance of women successfully leaving abusive relationships, said NTWWC co-director Rachael Uebergang.

"When they walk into the workplace the violence and abuse doesn't stop at the door, it goes into the workplace with them," she said.

"That happens in the form of abusive text messages and emails, it happens in the form of the perpetrator turning up to the workplace.

"Women who have income security and who have some financial independence are far more able to leave an abusive relationship when they're ready."

Map NT Police statistics on domestic violence rates of offending per 100,000 people between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017.

Ms Watkinson said it was important staff did not have to use their annual leave when taking time off work to address domestic violence.

"You're dealing with that, you're not actually having a break from work at all," she said.

"You still need to have that personal leave and annual leave available so that you can wind down and remain a part of the organisation and be able to function well."

Family dispute resolution leave 'less confronting'

As well as its domestic violence leave, YWCA Darwin also offers employees five days of paid family dispute resolution leave.

Ms Watkinson said the leave was for people going through a marital or partnership breakdown to be able to attend meetings, court dates, and mediation sessions.

"We have had more [employees] using the family dispute resolution leave," she said.

Ms Watkinson also said the family dispute resolution leave was used as a "less confronting" way of taking leave for domestic violence.

"With domestic and family violence leave, it's up to the people to actually identify that they are in a domestic violence situation and sometimes that can be very confronting," she said.

"So having the other option can be an easier way to access some form of leave to address those issues."

Family dispute resolution leave can be less confronting to take than domestic violence leave. ( ABC Capricornia: Lisa Clarke )

Employer training essential to success

But for either of the leave policies to be effective there needed to be work cultures where employees felt comfortable enough to ask for it in the first place, Ms Uebergang said.

"We are not asking or expecting any employers to be experts in this area," she said.

"But a little bit of knowledge and knowing how to refer and support that woman to be safe and keep her job can go a really long way to making a difference."

As the number of businesses offering the leave increases, the NTWWC has begun training courses to teach employers their responsibilities when someone asks for leave, as well as practical ways to deal with what can often be a very confronting subject.