The ACT Domestic Violence Crisis Service is concerned an increase in reports of domestic abuse is straining resources.

The service has told a Senate inquiry into domestic violence that incidents of abuse in the ACT have increased by 45 per cent over the past six years.

Police in the ACT received 3,289 reports of family violence in Canberra in the 2013/14 financial year, 160 more than the previous year.

The group's chief executive, Mirjana Wilson, told the inquiry that the growing demand had started to put a strain on resources, and was affecting the support available for victims.

"We are already a 24/7 operation, and we have a limited number of staff," she said.

"We don't bring in more staff to take more calls or to attend more incidents with ACT Policing, so we have to constantly reprioritise our work."

Ms Wilson said the crisis service was not helping victims for long enough.

"I feel that we are not providing the best services that we can to people," she said.

"What we do know about leaving a domestic violence situation, whether you exit a family home, or enter into a refuge, or stay in the home with a protection order, with police intervention, is that it is a process.

"It's not a single event that occurs [when] you leave violence."

The inquiry is due to release its findings in March 2015.

Earlier this year the ACT Government ordered a review of processes dealing with domestic abuse, which aimed to reduce the number of deaths from domestic violence.