The Catholic Church is about to be inundated with Supreme Court writs from Victorian survivors of clerical abuse who previously received modest ex gratia payments and will now attempt to sue the church for further compensation.

At least four Melbourne law firms have been briefed by dozens of victims seeking to challenge the validity of church settlements on the basis that payments were manifestly inadequate for the long-term suffering inflicted by paedophile priests.

The Catholic Church is expected to be targeted in a wave of legal action.

They also argue that some previous deeds of release, which prevented survivors from taking legal action again, should be scrapped when the church had not acted in good faith by concealing its knowledge of serial abusers.

The Age can also reveal that shadow attorney-general John Pesutto will consider introducing legislation to have unfair compensation deals set aside, if his party wins next month's election.