Updated May 30, 2018 15:57:04

Photo: In a statement, the Catholic Church said it it was committed to the redress process. (ABC News, file photo)

Victims of institutional child sexual abuse are one step closer to receiving compensation, after the Catholic Church announced it would sign up to the national redress scheme.

In a major step forward, the Church has confirmed it will enter the national scheme, despite its earlier misgivings, becoming the first non-government institution to opt in.

The church's governing bodies, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) and Catholic Religious Australia, released a statement saying they were keen to participate "to limit future trauma for survivors of abuse in obtaining redress from the Church".

"We support the royal commission's recommendation for a national redress scheme, administered by the Commonwealth, and we are keen to participate in it," ACBC president Archbishop Mark Coleridge said in the statement.

"Survivors deserve justice and healing and many have bravely come forward to tell their stories."

Archbishop Coleridge said given the diverse structure of the Church, it would establish a "simple and cost-effective" agency to respond to all of the compensation claims.

"It's been a long time in the making, and that's one of the reasons we've been a little slower on this than we would've wished to be," he told the ABC's PM program.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard evidence from 2,500 people who had been abused in Catholic-run institutions, and in its final report, said nearly 62 per cent of the victims were from Catholic-managed institutions.

All states and territories, except Western Australia, have signed up to the scheme, which would offer victims up to $150,000 in compensation.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described today's news as a "significant development" and said every government and institution "must take responsibility for the abuse that occurred on its watch, and pay the cost of providing redress".

With the scheme due to start from July, Mr Turnbull said the Commonwealth was working constructively with WA and the other non-government institutions to secure their involvement.

Topics: government-and-politics, catholic, community-and-society, children, law-crime-and-justice, sexual-offences, australia

First posted May 30, 2018 15:29:14