The sum for sexual abuse at St Alipius Christian Brothers Primary School during the 1970s was confirmed on Friday.

It was awarded against the Christian Brothers and the Diocese of Ballarat for the impact of the abuse allegedly committed against the claimant by three paedophiles who worked at the school at the time.

Brother Gerald Fitzgerald, Brother Stephen Farrell and the then school chaplain Gerald Ridsdale - now known as one of the country's most notorious and prolific sexual predators - were all at St Alipius during the time the boy was there from 1971 to 1973.

The compensation, a standalone sum which had legal costs awarded on top of it, is one of the highest claims of its kind for a survivor.

It follows legal reforms which have allowed abuse victims to receive much more substantial settlements.

The former St Alipius student who brought the claim does not wish to be identified. However, Phil Nagle who was also sexually abused by Farrell at the same school welcomed news of the award.

"It's good to see some of the survivors that were really destroyed - particularly by the Christian Brothers - see some justice for the crimes that were committed against them.

"Justice is coming, Catholic Church insurance is probably running pretty scared."

In evidence given to the Royal Commission, the survivor - referred as BAQ - spoke of the sexual abuse that was rife at the time. He told the commission that Fitzgerald had fondled and abused him in the classroom up to 20 times, while Farrell had abused him on an overnight fishing trip, and Ridsdale had sexually assaulted him in the St Alipius presbytery.

Fitzgerald never faced court before he died, while Farrell has been convicted for child abuse and Ridsdale has been in jail since 1994 with multiple convictions.

The survivor, who gave evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in 2015, detailed the impact of the abuse in a press release issued by his lawyer, Dr Viv Waller.

Having held a senior executive position at a large company, he was forced to step down from his job after the Royal Commission and almost lost his marriage. He also said he has no male friends due to an inability to trust.

"Giving evidence in the Royal Commission took its toll and my life began to completely unravel. I had to stop work and I have never been able to go back," he said.

"Understandably, survivors can turn to drugs or alcohol to numb the pain. For me, I was a workaholic.

"It was decades before I understood and accepted the impact the abuse had on my life and the moment I did, everything came crashing down.

"I would like people to understand that the effect of child abuse can be completely insidious. I was a high achieving person whose life unravelled and it ended my career.

"While the memories will never leave me and as painful as it was, it was a journey I had to take to try and heal. I can't tell you how relieved I feel now this part of the journey is over. I feel totally vindicated."

He said his great grandfather had come over to Australia from Ireland in the 1850s and had helped build the St Alipius Church.

Dr Waller, said the claim was resolved just ahead of a trial date, with her client able to prove significant loss of earnings.

She said the end of the so-called Ellis Defence - which prevented the Catholic Church from being sued - as well as the lifting of statutory time limits for claims, and increasing the capacity for survivors to overturn previous compensation deeds, had allowed the case to be resolved with a substantial pay-out.

The legal changes go beyond the Catholic Church as a case resolved by a separate law firm last year showed. A victim of former Ballarat teacher Vincent Reynolds was awarded a $1,552,725 court payout from the Victorian Education Department for abuse that occurred during the 1980s.

"Law reform has really levelled up the playing field and survivors have been able to achieve much better results in terms of being able to get a proper acknowledgement of the pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life they have endured," Dr Waller said.

She said survivors may previously have settled for insignificant sums, including under the 'Towards Healing' system.

"With law reform, it's important for survivors to know that they can come forward again. In some circumstances, it is going to be possible to overturn previous deeds of release, and in some circumstances it's going to be possible to get them additional amounts of compensation," she told The Courier.

"It's not an easy process to go through, but at least now it is possible to litigate cases in court ... it is really only the imminent threat of litigation that brings Catholic defendants to the table for negotiations at an appropriate level."

Father Kevin Maloney, the Vicar-General of the Diocese of Ballarat, did not wish to comment on the specific case, but expressed sympathy for abuse victims.

"A lot have suffered awfully," he said. "The processes they have gone through are complicated and difficult."

"Until the enormity of child sexual abuse became apparent - and that's not just in our institution but across the board - processes weren't well developed in any organisation."

"People need to show care and understanding to the people who have been abused, and recognise the path they have to walk down is really quite difficult."

Dr Waller said her legal company had resolved claims for 45 child sexual abuse cases involving the St Alipius parish.

Mr Nagle now believes the legal system has shifted equilibrium in a positive way.

"The law is now on the side of the survivors, not on the side of the Catholic Church," he said.

You can phone CASA, Sebastopol on 5320 3933, or free-call the crisis care line 24 hours on 1800 806 292. Or phone Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380 between 9am and 5pm, or Relationships Australia on 1300 364 277.

Other support numbers include:

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