Lawyers behind a "life-saving" hotline for Aboriginal people arrested in NSW have issued an 11th-hour plea to the federal government to keep the phones ringing.
Changes to Commonwealth funding arrangements that come into force from Wednesday, throw into doubt the future of the Custody Notification Service (CNS), a welfare and transparency phone service that connects Aboriginal people in custody with a lawyer.
Advocates say it has saved untold lives.
"It's a welfare line, it's a legal advice line, and it's a transparency measure," NSW and ACT Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) acting chief legal officer Jeremy Styles told AAP.
"We want the service to be funded and we want Aboriginal people in NSW police stations to get a fair go."
There have been no Aboriginal deaths in custody recorded in NSW or the ACT since the CNS was rolled out.
Mr Styles says the service ensures detainees who may not feel comfortable discussing health or medication needs with police have someone in their corner.
"It's a daily or weekly occurrence that we provide information to police about medical needs, medicines, head injuries, suicidal ideation - things that require ambulance attendance," Mr Styles said.
"That kind of prevention of medical deaths in police custody is a really critical factor."
He said the ALS was only able to confirm in recent weeks that specific federal funding for the service would not be renewed, and that any continued help must be paid for out of core funding.
The ALS has now turned to emergency bridging funds but if no specific funding can be secured, that will mean fewer lawyers in courtrooms or a wound-back CNS, he said.
This is despite stated government support for the service at both state and federal levels.
"We're certainly very much aware of that issue; in fact I've been talking at length with Senator (Nigel Scullion, federal Indigenous Affairs Minister) on it," NSW Aboriginal Affairs Minister Leslie Williams said last week.
"He's as passionate as I am in making sure that service continues."
A spokeswoman for Attorney-General George Brandis told AAP that "under current arrangements, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Legal Services determine the funding of Custody Notification Schemes, not the government".
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