Applying to the Federal Government's redress program for survivors of sexual abuse has been described as "like being raped again".

Key points: Abuse survivors say applying for redress makes them relive the trauma

Abuse survivors say applying for redress makes them relive the trauma Many are concerned the slow process means they won't live to see redress paid

Many are concerned the slow process means they won't live to see redress paid 100 organisations are yet to sign up to the scheme

"Filling out the application form was unbearable, bringing back all those childhood memories and the rape and abuse," survivor Warren Porter told 7.30.

The National Redress Scheme was a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

It aims to support survivors and assist them in applying for redress from a range of organisations and religious institutions identified by the commission.

Payments are capped at a maximum of $150,000.

Reliving the horror

The process has been so traumatic that Warren Porter is having second thoughts about applying for redress. ( ABC News )

Mr Porter grew up in a series of institutions and first told his story to the royal commission back in 2013.

"I was first raped at four," he said.

"I've been bashed, stripped naked, I've been lashed."

He did not think he would still be waiting for justice.

"If I'd known what was going to happen, I don't think I would have gone to the royal commission," he said.

Trauma rehab consultant Professor Roger Rees has helped a number of survivors, including Mr Porter, to fill out their application forms.

It is 62 pages long.

"[The process] takes people on a journey back into childhood which is traumatic, damaging and leaves people without recourse for support and with a disbelief that government agencies have any real concern," Professor Rees told 7.30.

"I have spoken to people who have had to complete this form and for them, to use their language, it is like being raped again.

"It is like being lashed and flogged again."

Then there is the waiting.

'Not enough institutions have joined'

Paul Fletcher says the Government is doing all it can to improve the redress process. ( ABC News )

So far the scheme has received more than 3,000 applications, but only 88 people have received payments — that is less than 3 per cent.

"We need to get more payments being made. We are working through the applications that have been received but the biggest constraint over the last few months has been that not enough institutions have joined," Social Services Minister Paul Fletcher told 7.30.

Last week he published a list of 100 organisations yet to sign up.

"What I expect is that over the coming months, we will see the backlog start to be reduced as more institutions join the scheme," he said.

"We are doing everything we can to improve the process."

The Government can name and shame the institutions, but cannot force them to join.

"The scheme is opt in, that was a recommendation of the royal commission, it's also a constitutional limitation on the Commonwealth," Mr Fletcher said.

Professor Rees thinks the institutions that have not signed up are being cowards.

"The courage of the survivors is not being matched by the organisations that are complicit in this brutality," he said.

"They are still sweeping their responsibilities under the carpet."

'Am I going to be alive when redress comes?'

Roy and Ronda Janetzki were thrilled about the royal commission, but are having their doubts about the redress process. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher )

Roy and Rhonda Janetzki are also waiting.

Mr Janetzki was abused at four different Catholic institutions, Ms Janetzki at an institution run by the Sisters of Mercy.

Both struggled to fill out the application forms for redress.

"You have to bare your soul," Ms Janetzki told 7.30.

"You relive it over and over. It is cruel and it is just dragging us back to where we don't matter.

"I've had to go back to counselling, I'm having panic attacks again, I'm having nightmares and night terrors again."

At 73, Mr Janetzki is facing an even longer delay, because two of the organisations where he suffered abuse have not yet signed up to the redress scheme.

"I can't access or get any redress until they all opt in," he told 7.30.

"As children we weren't given a chance to opt in or opt out, so I don't see why the churches are given that choice."

"We both have very serious medical conditions," Ms Janetzki said.

"Roy often says to me, 'Am I still going to be alive when redress comes? Am I going to cark it before?'"

'We can't let these bastards get away with it'

Rhonda Janetzki never wants to see another child's life destroyed. ( ABC News )

For Rhonda and Roy Janetzki, some money would allow them to go on their first real holiday. But that does not drive Ms Janetzki.

She keeps fighting because she does not want the horrors of the past to be repeated.

"We can no longer let these bastards get away with abusing us all through our lives," she said.

"[I] want to make sure these people never get the opportunity to ever harm another child or destroy their lives like they have done to us."

Mr Porter believes the delay is deliberate.

"I think the Government is just wanting us all to die off first, that's why they're holding it back," he said.

"The pain is always going to be there, I am going to go to my grave hating the bastards for what they [did] to me.

"So the compensation would mean nothing to me but it would be a help to my family."