Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pledge to survivors

Gail Furness (from left), Bill Shorten and Malcolm Turnbull took time to look through the Message to Australia book, hand-written letters from victims of child sexual abuse. Photo / AP

First-hand accounts of anguish and suffering from institutional child abuse survivors during a royal commission have shone a light on a national tragedy, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says.

The five-year, A$500 million ($547m) inquiry held a final sitting in Sydney yesterday before a report containing recommendations is handed to the Government.

"This first thing I want to say is we love you and we believe you," Turnbull told a group of survivors as he arrived at the hearing in Sydney.

The Prime Minister later thanked the commission for its "hard and harrowing work".

"Above all, I want to say thank you to the survivors and the families of the survivors who told their stories of pain and anguish and suffering, often for the first time," he told reporters. "They've enabled us to shine a light on what has been nothing less than a national tragedy."

Turnbull committed to doing everything he could to ensure the horrific abuse detailed during the inquiry was never repeated.

"It's a long and sad story but it had to be told ... so that justice can be done to those who were wronged and justice can be brought to bear to those who wronged them."

The commission will hand its report to Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove today and the Government will make it public.

However, survivors are anxious about how long it may take to implement the recommendations. They're calling for swift action.

Turnbull would only say that the recommendations would be considered "with the respect and care that they deserve".

Opposition leader Bill Shorten said the Government should give the commission its full support.

"We should show faith in the royal commissioners and the thousands of people who gave evidence," he said outside the hearing.

"I don't believe that Australians will accept excuses from the Parliament if we don't fully support the results."

Shorten also appealed to the institutions caught up in the inquiry to "accept responsibility".

It's a long and sad story but it had to be told ... so that justice can be done to those who were wronged and justice can be brought to bear to those who wronged them.

Malcolm Turnbull

The Government has already started work on a national redress scheme. However, survivors are concerned it may exclude those who have been to prison.

Leonie Sheedy, the founder of support group Clan, urged Turnbull to drop that provision.

Turnbull said the relevant legislation had been referred to a committee and he'd look "carefully" at any submission from Clan.

Former Labor Prime minister Julia Gillard, who set up the inquiry, says she's been shocked by the breadth of systemic cover-ups.

"Now on this journey the royal commissioners are handing it back to us and so we've got to be as good with the next stage as the royal commissioners were with their stage," she told ABC TV.

"That means we've got to take every recommendation seriously and act on it."