A convicted paedophile has used the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to apologise to his victims.

Brother Gregory Sutton was convicted of sexually abusing children at Catholic schools across the ACT, New South Wales and Queensland during the 1970s and 80s.

Brother Sutton is not expected to give evidence at the inquiry during its Canberra hearings, but today offered his apologies to the two victims present via his lawyer Greg Walsh.

"Over the luncheon adjournment... I spoke to my client (Brother Sutton) and I just wish to convey to you his apology for what he did to you, which was an outrageous breach of trust," Mr Walsh said.

"I want you to understand that he should never, ever have acted that way to you.

"To the extent that it's of any comfort to you, he apologises to you."

Brother Sutton was convicted in 1996 of 67 counts of child sexual abuse. He was jailed for 12 years and is now living in the community.

Until today his details had been suppressed by the court.

But it was the first act of the royal commission's Canberra hearings to lift that non-publication order, despite concerns from Brother Sutton's lawyer that he was in danger of becoming subject to media and community harassment.

The two-week royal commission inquiry in Canberra is examining the response of the Marist Brothers to allegations of child sexual abuse made against Brother Sutton and Brother John Chute.

Victim recalls Brother's threat if she reported abuse

Two women known to the inquiry as ADM and ADQ were the first to give evidence to the commission today.

They were best friends in Brother Sutton's year five class at Saint Thomas More School in Campbelltown during 1984.

"He made me feel special," ADM said. "I was getting a lot of attention and I liked that."

But the favouritism and attention he showered on the two friends soon took a sinister turn.

"He used to rub the inside of my leg," ADM said.

"I think he was testing to see how far his hand could go up, just to see whether I had a reaction."

Over the months the acts became more brazen and the assaults more vicious.

"He used to wear this crucifix around his neck with Jesus on it," ADM said.

"I remember turning it around so Jesus wouldn't see what was going on."

The two women, who were about 10 years old at the time of the assaults, told the commission they were initially scared to report it.

"I believed he would kill my parents if I told them," ADQ said.

"He told us that this is what adults do."

ADM told the commission she was embarrassed about reporting the matter to police.

"I remember feeling red-faced and blushing heavily, having to say those things in front of my parents. I was mortified," she said.

Commission hears of abuse victims' suffering

Brother Sutton only spent two years at Saint Thomas Moore School from 1984 to 1985, but is alleged to have abused two girls and one boy during that time.

He taught at a number of schools across Queensland, the ACT and New South Wales between 1973 and 1987.

The commission expects to hear allegations of sexual abuse arose as soon as he started teaching.

The royal commission will investigate what was known and when about the allegations against Brother Sutton.

It will consider whether those allegations were reported to police or simply used to justify transferring him between schools from north Queensland, to schools around Sydney, Canberra, Campbelltown and Lismore.

After formal complaints were made to police, a warrant for Brother Sutton's arrest was made in 1992.

But by that time he had been allowed to move overseas where he had become the headmaster of a school in the US state of Missouri.

ADQ broke down on the witness stand as she spoke of how the events had changed her life.

"I know he did his time in prison but he gets to live his life," ADQ said.

"I still have to have to live with the sentence Brother Greg [Sutton] imposed on me.

"I tried to commit suicide four or five times. The last time was two years ago.

"My brother killed himself eight years ago... before he died he told me he was sorry he didn't protect me."

The compensation paid out to Brother Sutton's victims will also be looked at.

There have been 16 successful claims for a total payout of $1.82 million.

Of that, ADM received $93,000, a sum she described as "disappointing".

But she said she hoped her case warned others of maintaining a clear boundary between students and their teachers.

"We should not be allowed in classrooms before school, certainly not sitting on laps," she said

"No private chit chat. It is just about school."