A respected Aboriginal leader has called for extreme action to stop what he calls the increasing brutality against Aboriginal women and children.

Professor Mick Dodson is the head of the Australian National University's Institute for Indigenous Australia and says violence in Aboriginal communities is getting worse.

Professor Dodson says there would be community outrage if the same thing was happening in white communities and it is time for action to be taken.

"The situation's so bad that we have a crisis and it has to be dealt with like a crisis," he said.

"That's essentially what I mean by extreme action. We have to throw resources into this like it was a national emergency. That's my view about it."