The plan is spearheaded by family lawyer Julia Puntoriero and Griffith Centacare regional manager Tracey Febo, who say there's a chronic lack of such services in the region.

The centre would allow children to reunite with one or both of their parents in a supervised environment, and is often a legal requirement in the case of a family dispute or a messy divorce.

However the only contact centre anywhere near Griffith is in Wagga Wagga, where the waiting list can be months or even years long.

When the two women pitched their business case to the government for funding the waiting list was 18 months long, and Mrs Puntoriero said such a long separation could wreak havoc on a child's mental health.

"The statistics are clear: children who have been separated from their parents or who don't spend significant shared time with their parents have a higher chance of mental illness," Mrs Puntoriero said.

"Trying to encourage regular time with both parents, whatever dispute their parents are experiencing, is important to reduce cases of mental illness."

READ MORE

Mrs Febo said it was often the children who suffered the most during their parents' breakup, which sometimes led to long-lasting damage.

"We deal with a lot of grief and loss from the children; we see lots of anxiety around the changes to their family functioning," Mrs Febo said.

"We want to reconnect them, but in a safe way. Contact centres are about keeping children safe."

Member for Murray Helen Dalton took their business case to the family and community services minister Gareth Ward, who was unaware that Griffith didn't have a child contact centre.

Mrs Dalton said she'd keep demanding Mr Ward and the government until they funded the contact centre.

"Our most vulnerable children and families are suffering immensely due to lack of basic services in small towns," Mrs Dalton said.

"Some wonderful community members have come up with solutions. It's time for government to back them up."