The Turnbull government expects all states, territories and churches to at least signal where they stand on a national redress scheme for abuse victims within days.
Responding to the final report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse released on Friday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the government would also set up a task force in January to act on the recommendations.
In the meantime the government has set aside $52.1 million to support abuse victims' access to redress from a national scheme and provide initial counselling services.
A parliamentary committee, chaired by crossbench senator Derryn Hinch, will also be established to oversee redress-related recommendations.
Sydney Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher backed a full redress, "whatever the cost".
"The time when we judge these things for ourselves is over," he said.
"What they say we should be paying we will back - whether it's through insurance or our own assets - we will make sure people get what is judged to be just compensation."
Social Services Minister Christian Porter said the redress scheme would be open to submissions from July 1 next year, but the maximum payment of $150,000 per person would not be increased.
He said the figure had been the subject of 12 months of negotiation with the states, territories and churches and was designed get the maximum "opt in" to the scheme.
Asked how quickly the states should respond, he said: "I would expect most state attorneys-general and ministers responsible will be giving you some kind of indication in the next couple of days."
NSW and Victoria had shown initial "positive" signs, while South Australia was inclined not to join, he said.
The NT and ACT would join either voluntarily or forced via federal action if necessary.
Queensland, WA and Tasmania have kept their cards to themselves and the churches and large institutions are weighing up their positions.
"The commonwealth ... and the Australian public at large will be placing moral pressure on those organisations to do the right thing by their survivors," Mr Porter said.
Mr Turnbull thanked the commissioners and their staff for their work over five years.
"But, above all, we want to thank and recognise the courageous survivors of child sexual abuse and their families who gave evidence and told harrowing stories to the royal commission," he said.
The government has already to date changed legal limitations periods where the commonwealth is a defendant, come up with a nationally agreed set of principles to make organisations safer for the participation of children and begun work on a national database to share "working with children" data.
As well, this week a new criminal offence came into force to deal with people who travel overseas to commit child sex offences and in September laws to toughen sentences for child sex crimes were introduced.
But the report included 189 new recommendations to be considered, beyond those already contained in reports issued by the commission.
The 17-volume report of the $500 million commission contained a total of 409 recommendations.
Labor leader Bill Shorten said the inquiry had changed Australia for the better.
"We must never again allow the abuse of children to be covered up," Mr Shorten said.
"Our task now is to bring about change so that every Australian child can enjoy a safe childhood, free from abuse. The recommendations from the royal commission cannot be ignored."
