The Salvation Army failed to protect boys in its care from sexual abuse and punished many who reported assaults, according to a damning royal commission report published on Tuesday.

The report found that The Salvation Army received more than 100 claims of child sexual abuse concerning boys' homes, but in most cases those who reported were disbelieved, told they were liars, punished or ignored.

There was evidence of horrific abuse at four Salvos homes in NSW and Queensland. Credit:MHoctor@illawarramercury.com.au

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard evidence about horrific abuse in four boys' homes in NSW and Queensland between the 1950s and the 1970s.

The homes were Indooroopilly and Riverview in Queensland and Gill and Bexley in New South Wales.