Phil Nagle: "He's committed the crime and he's got to do the time." Credit:Jason South

Phil Nagle, an abuse survivor from George Pell's home town of Ballarat, said he didn't think Judge Peter Kidd should have taken the cardinal's age into account when handing down his sentence.

However, Mr Nagle said he was happy that Pell would serve time in jail, unlike when his perpetrator Christian brother Stephen Frances Farrell first faced court in 1997 and was given a suspended sentence.

"The expectation from the public is that we're not going to put up with these guys getting light sentences or not getting jail," he said.

"It's moving in the right direction, but slowly. He's committed the crime and he's got to do the time."