But her search for just a sliver of justice has resulted in being traumatised all over again, and asking why survivors are made to experience this as plaintiffs, not defendants, in the judicial system.

Lyn recently sued the Riverina Diocese of the Anglican Church for alleged abuse by former Newcastle Anglican Dean Graham Lawrence, who is serving time in jail for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 1991.

Noting Lawrence's widely acknowledged homosexuality, Lyn said she believed she was abused as punishment for questioning his teachings.

Lyn also took action against the State of NSW with the alleged incidents taking place in the late 1960s while Lawrence was a scripture teacher at her public school. Both matters have now been settled.

But to say the battle was a tough one would be a colossal understatement.

Lyn was already fragile. The childhood abuse has resulted in diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder. Lyn has suffered chronic suicidality and endured lengthy psychiatric admissions. She will need ongoing psychiatric care and therapy for the rest of her life.

The civil process required her to hand over a lifetime of medical records to be trawled through, sit through hours of interviews with forensic psychiatrists, wait through three mediations and be asked more than a hundred questions, some with incredible detail - what time of day was it? What was he wearing? - about incidents from decades ago.

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Lyn's husband Richard, her power of attorney and carer, said this made it feel like they were being bullied with an attempt to argue for a permanent stay preventing the case from proceeding.

"It's a really dysfunctional system favorable to defendants," he said. "Every mediation you were shattered, because the build up creates an expectation and then they all failed".

"It made me feel that I was a nothing, that I was just a number and I was just something that they had to get rid of," Lyn said.

"That what I was saying wasn't true. When you know what you're saying is absolutely true and all you do is tell the truth - when they question you telling your truth, it just is so heartbreaking.

"It makes you sad and angry. I felt like I'm a nothing, that what happened to me, they're making it seem like it didn't happen. It happened."

Lyn received a settlement from the dioceses for $150,000 including costs - a fraction of her potential entitlements if she were successful in litigation.

Her settlement with the State of NSW is confidential.

However, the process wasn't about the money for Lyn. She wanted acknowledgement. For her story to be heard. To be believed.

"To give my inner child some sort of recognition of what she went through, and hopefully to allow the people that come after me to be able to find resolution in the system," she said.

But coming out the other side has left a sense of anger and disappointment in that system.

There's no criminal implications for the church or Lawrence, something she had pursued in the past but was discouraged from on the basis that the process could make her even sicker.

Richard also said the National Redress scheme wasn't appropriate due to the level of Lyn's alleged abuse. Lyn's lawyers recommended she approach both defendants directly under 'model litigant' guidelines - in which the diocese and the state would act fairly. But he said she was ignored for years, leading to the commencement of formal legal action.

Lyn also fears others in her situation wouldn't get the result she did due to the turmoil it took to get it.

She considers her circumstances to be lucky compared to those of other survivors. She has an incredible support system in Richard, who fought the battle when Lyn was unable to. She hasn't encountered substance abuse issues - which can be a coping mechanism for survivors. Richard in turn says Lyn has been a great mother to their two sons and tried hard to do well by her family while battling her own demons.

"I honestly don't know how others could actually survive it," Lyn said.

"Richard's been my hero. I'm very lucky I had Richard as my carer, because I don't think I would have survived.

"I haven't been strong enough, I haven't been well enough. I've been very, very teary and angry and like a whole mix of emotions."

Richard said the issue wasn't with their legal representation, rather that the defendants' insurers "have the upper hand".

"They run defences every day, plaintiffs are naive, emotionally compromised," he said. "Mediations prey on those emotions by setting up a sense of occasion and deliberate pressures to settle for a fraction of the real damages.

"As the case progresses the tone... changes with increasing reference to risks, further pressuring the survivor to accept compromises that dash hopes of compensation proportionate to the suffering and costs."

Richard believes there has to be a change in the system to make it less traumatising for survivors.

"It's not, 'we've got someone who's come forward, they've been candid, they've had a history that's consistent with this, how can we engage with this person in a positive way, be supportive towards them, and try to work towards an understanding of whether it's credible, or not credible?'

"For me this is where society needs to be. Where we are is in a very bad place.

"It is time that victims were believed."

If you or someone you know needs to access support, you can contact:

Lifeline: 13 11 14

Sexual assault helpline: 1800 737 732

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