A parish priest in Tasmania has revealed for the first time he himself was abused by a priest as a schoolboy at Burnie's Marist Regional College, and says he wants to encourage others to come forward.

Key points: An abused priest says he wants other survivors to know he understands their experience

An abused priest says he wants other survivors to know he understands their experience Father Girdauskas says he is telling his story to help heal a community "betrayed" by those in positions of trust

Father Girdauskas says he is telling his story to help heal a community "betrayed" by those in positions of trust The Tasmanian Archbishop has previously said he regrets the harm caused caused by abusive priests

Father John Girdauskas told the ABC he was first sexually abused by Father Laurie Gallagher in the 1970s, when he was 14.

The abuse, which he said continued until he was 17, occurred on school field trips around Tasmania.

"I remember he would often ask me to be naked and would himself walk around naked," he said.

"He also instructed me to move my bed into his room. Then the abuse started."

Father Girdauskas, who heads the Burnie-Wynyard Parish, felt that as result he had been robbed of his innocence.

"For a long time there was this guilt that … I had been robbed of innocence in many ways, which it was."

"So here was this grown man in a position of trust who had taken advantage of me."

'Trust was eroded'

Father Girdauskas is going public with his story for the first time, he said, to help heal a community "betrayed" by those in positions of trust.

He said he "stayed the course" with becoming a priest in spite of the abuse, because he found "solace" in being near to those who had likewise suffered.

Father Laurie Gallagher died in 1993. ( Supplied )

"I am sharing my story because I want others to know … as the local priest, but also as a human being, I understand their story," Father Girdauskas said.

Five staff associated with Marist Regional College have been sent to prison for sex offences committed in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Another three clergy, now dead, have had multiple allegations levelled against them, including a former provincial of the Marist Fathers.

Father Gallagher died in 1993 after a career teaching across Australia.

"It hurts me to see trust eroded; there is a lot of good work done by the faith community," Father Girdauskas said.

Number of Tasmanian legal cases climbing

A Canberra-based law firm investigating historical sexual abuse in Tasmania's north-west believes Marist Fathers Australia could be facing damages claims from as many as 100 people.

Jason Parkinson, from Porters Lawyers, said sexual misconduct at Marist Regional College and Stella Maris School in the 1960s, 70s and 80s was one of the "worst mass abuse matters in Australia".

Mr Parkinson has been interviewing alleged victims across Tasmania to establish common law cases.

He said many of those coming forward were women, including more alleged victims of Stephen Randall, a former international cricket umpire who was sentenced to four years in jail in 1999 over sexual assault offences against schoolgirls.

"I've done these mass abuse cases," Mr Parkinson said.

"I've done Beaudesert BoysTown in Queensland, that was hundreds of cases. I did Marist Brothers in Canberra, and that was about 150.

"Sadly I would expect similar numbers for this school."

Jason Parkinson said victims were making claims through lawyers rather than Australia's redress scheme. ( ABC News: Henry Zwartz )

Mr Parkinson said shortcomings in Australia's redress scheme — including a $150,000 limit on payouts — were pushing people to legal firms.

"The economic loss for these people can be quite substantial," he said.

"You don't get that with the redress scheme."

"I read somewhere the other day the average payout is $82,000. I mean, that's not even the down payment on a proper common law claim."

Priest 'overwhelmed' by redress process

Father Girdauskas said he had not considered applying for redress himself but encouraged others to seek help.

"I'm overwhelmed by that process, I have heard through a number of sources that it is a very difficult and painful process," he said.

"I have thought about it, but I am not quite sure whether I would have the courage or the fortitude to see that through."

Clergy and parishioners within Tasmania's Catholic community are now calling for a regular service to recognise past wrongs, and to help salve past wounds.

"I think one of the sad things really is that I do think the bishops [generally] are still in denial, I think certainly they continue to offer apologies … but also [they need] to walk with those people, to continue to walk with those people who have been abused," Father Girdauskas said.

Church points to new safeguards

Catholic Archbishop Julian Porteous says the church regrets the harm caused by abusive priests. ( ABC News: Annah Fromberg )

Tasmania's Archbishop Julian Porteous was asked to respond to concerns around the church's approach to sexual abuse victims.

A spokesman for the church said he was currently in Rome but referred to previous statements about abuse cases in which the Archbishop said he was "humbled by the historical cases of child sexual abuse, and regretted the harm caused by those priests … who breached their position of trust".

In previous statements, he outlined steps taken to safeguard children and vulnerable adults.

Father Girdauskas said his door would always be open to those suffering in silence.

"I would think that a lot of those haven't actually come out and said 'look this is my story', and what I would hope is that eventually some sort of freedom, or some sort of liberation, comes about when people say 'I believe what you are saying'," he said.