Clients raising money for Vic axe victim

Clients of a beautician brutally attacked with a hatchet in a Melbourne shopping centre are raising money to help with her recovery.

The Sri Lankan woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is still in hospital after Monday's attack.

Her 45-year-old husband has been charged with attempted murder, and he told the court his estranged wife had been unfaithful and complained the Australian court system was "regulated around the female".

One of the woman's clients, Natalie, told 3AW she was raising money to make sure the woman could survive when she got out of hospital.

"She just didn't deserve this... I just want to give her something to not worry about losing her house or not being able to make ends meet," Natalie told 3AW on Friday.

The woman has been separated from her husband for a year, and started seeing someone new.

Her husband allegedly bought a hatchet at Bunnings and attacked her in a beauty parlour in the Fountain Gate shopping centre.

Natalie said the woman had no family in Australia and no support networks apart from her friends and clients.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money to support the woman, who has two children.

National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT. In an emergency call triple-zero.