Most adults who were abused as children were harmed by those in their immediate family rather than by those in religious, educational or health institutions, new research shows.

The findings, based on statistics from more than 3500 telephone calls to the Adults Surviving Child Abuse helpline in the past four years, quashes the perception that most abuse happens inside institutions.

Confronting: 63 per cent of callers to the Adults Surviving Child Abuse helpline said they had been abused by an immediate family member. Credit:John Donegan

They show that 63 per cent of callers said they had been abused by an immediate family member, compared to 18 per cent who said they had been abused by perpetrators in institutions.

Twenty per cent of callers said they had been abused by a member of their extended family; 10 per cent by family friends and 2 per cent by strangers. Nineteen per cent said they had been abused by multiple perpetrators.

"It is confronting to learn about the high numbers of people who are abused by those who are close to them - in positions of care, nurture and trust,'' Adults Surviving Child Abuse president Cathy Kezelman said.

The Australian Catholic Church's truth, justice and healing council's chief executive, Francis Sullivan, said the statistics did not ''remove the obligation of the religious bodies to come forward with the truth'', despite a recognition that ''child sex abuse has largely always occurred in domestic settings''.