Eleanor’s account of the trauma she went through in being cross-examined by her abuser has also prompted Indi MP Cathy McGowan to consider putting forward a private members’ bill to change the law, to better protect victims.

But the federal government has yet to react, with Attorney-General George Brandis twice failing to respond to media queries on the issue.

The 43-year-old woman shared her story with The Border Mail last month, detailing her five-year battle navigating the Victorian and federal legal systems after leaving a decade-long abusive marriage.

Her post-traumatic stress disorder was triggered when her husband — who she had an intervention order against — was allowed to cross-examine her in a final custody hearing over their three children.

Eleanor said the federal family law system was out of step with that of the states, where laws have been changed to prevent abusers from cross-examining their witnesses even if they were representing themselves.

Since the publication, Eleanor has been in contact with both Mr Shorten and Ms McGowan’s offices, and met Ms McGowan’s advisers.

Mr Shorten wrote to Prime Minister Tony Abbott in March to push for a bipartisan summit on domestic violence.

CLICK HERE for Eleanor's initial report on the failures of the justice system. 

He reiterated that call to The Border Mail last week, saying too many women were “at the mercy of a postcode lottery”.

“Right now, if you’re a woman at risk, the quality of support you receive will depend upon where you live,” he said.

“When women seek legal protection from their abusers our court processes can be an emotional and financial gauntlet, intimidating, complex and slow.

“Our systems should be built upon one fundamental principle: when forced to court seeking protection from family violence, you and your children should never walk alone.”

He said Labor would invest $42 million in frontline community legal services if elected — but stopped short of pledging to change the law regarding cross-examination.

Ms McGowan said her office had met Eleanor and the Women’s Legal Service to discuss how to address the issue.

“There’s a very real case to be answered here,” Ms McGowan said.

Eleanor welcomed the responses of Mr Shorten and Ms McGowan with cautious optimism, but said there was much to be done to help women.

“I’ve had a lot of positive responses on this before and nothing’s eventuated... people make a lot of noise that this is a travesty but to date I haven’t seen any real action around it,” she said.

“At the moment, there are so many flaws in the system, and I’m just focusing on one aspect of that but it is something that can be fixed quite readily and is achievable.”

Eleanor said her correspondence with Mr Brandis, she says, stopped at an acknowledgment of the receipt of her letters.

“They (his office) said there are things already in place to (protect women in court),” she said.

“But the things in place are not working.”

The Border Mail twice sought comment from Mr Brandis on whether the government would consider changes to family law: once in response to Eleanor’s story and again last week, with no response received on either occasion.

The government announced a national $30 million domestic vioence awareness campaign in March, funded by the Commonwealth and states; but it has since been criticised as providing little extra funding in the 2015 budget.