Talking to a stranger about how he was sexually abused makes him feel worried.

But with his friend Coop, an 18-month-old black labrador, by his side, his counselling sessions have become a little bit easier.

"Coop has enabled this child to do counselling for sexual assault with far less anxiety … it has been reduced by half," said Centre Against Violence chief executive Kerry Burns.

Coop has been specially trained to support sexual assault and family violence victims at the Wangaratta centre, in Victoria's north-east, in the hope she'll one day join them as they give evidence in court.

But so far Coop's trainer, Tess Stow, has been unable to get Victoria's courts on board.

The veterinary nurse, who's been training dogs for about 20 years, is working hard with the centre to bring a court support dog program to the Victoria after hearing of their success overseas.

There are 116 court support dogs authorised to work in 36 US states, and the canines are also used in Canada and Chile.

"There's positives that are coming out of it because people stay in the legal system because it's less traumatic," Ms Stow said.

Coop is the first dog she has trained as part of her program K9 Support.

She plans to shut down the dog kennel she runs near Benalla to focus on it, including travelling to the US to in September to meet with court dog trainers there.

The pilot phase of the program has been to train two Centre Against Violence counsellors to use Coop in their sessions with about eight of their clients.

"She'll pop her paws on someone's leg or give them a kiss on their face," Ms Stow said.

"Or [she'll do] a down-stay where she's just laying on her mat, if the children want to pat her quietly.

"[Dogs] provide a sense of calmness and security for the children and it's been proven unequivocally that no child can start to heal until they feel safe."

But what Ms Stow needs is access to courtrooms to continue Coop's training.

Ms Burns said the centre was collecting informal research and was in talks with La Trobe University to run an extensive research program with more dogs.

"We've got confidence based on the US and Canadian [legal] systems that the investment in using facility dogs is well and truly worthwhile for clients," she said.

"[Courts] can be a frightening place and we think there is an opportunity to increase clients' sense of safety, and particularly children's.

"If they can settle their nerves, we know that correlates with stronger evidence."

Ms Stow is hoping the research will help sway the Victorian Government to get behind the program.

"We really need laws to be changed," she said.

"We want to go to them with proof and say 'why aren't we doing this, we're really lagging behind'."

Member for Euroa Steph Ryan, who has been championing the cause, noted the child abuse Royal Commission's 2010 survey of 25 children and young people who all found the Children's Court a scary experience.

"I would really like to see the courts play their role by actually looking at [the support dog program] and considering what role they can play in [improving] the experience for women and children," she said.

The Nationals deputy leader said she had written to Family Violence Prevention Minister Fiona Richardson to seek her support.

A government spokeswoman said it had not been approached about the program and that court access was a matter for the courts.

A spokeswoman for the Children's Court said it would be interested in talking to Ms Stow to see if the program could be used in the court.

A spokeswoman for the Family Law Court said it was unable to comment and Magistrates' Court did not respond.

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