Instead, many felt as if they had just been locked into a living hell.

It was the 1970s and if you were sent to a Catholic school - like Stephen Woods and Tony Wardley were - you learnt pretty quickly that the brothers ruled with an iron fist.

And if you questioned their authority, you would get six of the best on each hand - if you were lucky.

If you weren't, the prolific paedophiles that made the school their playground would use your disobedience as an excuse to sexually abuse you.

Brothers, nuns, priests were messengers of God, Catholics were taught.

This meant you did what they said and you didn't question it.

Stephen and Tony have shared their story on our award-winning podcast Voice of Real Australia.

When Stephen was a pupil at the school, principal Brother Robert Best had a habit of taking children into his office.

"He would have his way with them, doing whatever he wanted - literally. And what he did with me was get me to stand in front of his desk and I would have to slowly strip my clothes off for him and all the time he was masturbating behind the desk," Stephen said.

"He would also and this is the part that really bit into my life and into my psyche, was that he would tell me that I was bad. I was evil. I deserved this. This is my fault. I've been very bad. You are going to be nothing in life. You are nothing, you are worthless and everything along those lines.

"He would tell me that while I had to strip for him."

Sadly, like countless other survivors of clergy sexual abuse, Stephen would go on to be abused by two other church representatives.

Tony Wardley was also a victim of three separate abusers during his time at the Ballarat primary school.

"The first time I was sexually abused was by a nun," Tony said. "I can't actually remember whether it was grade one or two."

In grade three, Tony was subject to abuse by Brother Gerald Leo Fitzgerald.

"He is a prolific paedophile and a vicious one at that - he had no trouble groping, kissing fondling boys at the front of the class - he would pull different ones up at different times. And as I said he was very violent as well - to keep control over you.

"Grade six I had Brother Robert Best.

"He was another paedophile and he was another one that used violence and didn't care what he did in front of the students - he would be fondling your ass and that while you're reading out the front.

"They were a law unto themselves. So no child in those circumstances are going to be unaffected, even if they weren't physically touched because they're seeing others being molested all the time. And any day that you weren't touched was a good day. But the anxiety that you were gonna be the next one was always there."

When Stephen and Tony were boys there were whispers about certain brothers and priests. But if there were any formal complaints made, more often than not the alleged offender was moved onto another parish before any legal action was taken.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse found that sexual abuse was rife in Catholic institutions.

Commissioners heard the stories of 8000 survivors and read the personal stories of more than 1000 victims.

Between 1980 and 2015, there were 4756 reported claims of sexual abuse in a Catholic institution.

A National Redress scheme was set up, but a number of survivors have criticised the process, likening the questioning with regards to their abuse akin to an interrogation.

Mauz Hatcher grew up in Ballarat in the '70s. She had no idea these crimes were being committed until the Royal Commission began in 2013 and the stories started to flow out.

"We had no idea - absolutely no idea. We were one block away at at the girls' school. And we were having a lovely time," Mauz said.

Mauz is the founder of the LOUD fence movement.

When stories about kids she grew up with and knew at school started to flood out through the Royal Commission, Mauz wanted to do something to show solidarity.

She, along with her former classmates, started tying brightly coloured ribbons to the fence of the former boys' school - where a lot of the crimes were committed.

It's since turned into a worldwide movement.

LOUD fences have appeared outside Catholic churches and schools in dozens of countries. But even after the global reckoning with the church's crimes, the church still has yet to properly atone for them, Mauz said.

"Look, I still think there's a lot of lessons to be learned," Mauz said.

"I suppose what shocked and surprised so many of us was as soon as the Royal Commission recommendations came out - the week of - St. Patrick's Cathedral asked their parishioners to cut all the ribbons off the fence. And that was like a week or two before Christmas, which is really a tough time for so many survivors anyway. But it was almost like 'OK, Royal Commission's done, stories are out, recommendations are out, let's sweep it all under the carpet and forget it never, you know, forget it happened'. And I think that was pretty telling."

Mauz has been left disappointed time and time again when ribbons are taken from fences.

She said she believed some people didn't understand what the ribbons represented.

"They see it more as a protest rather than a show of support," Mauz said.

"And it's the show of support that is more meaningful for survivors because I hear that from them all the time. It's that public show of support that they've never had before."

If you weren't brought up Catholic, you may find it difficult to understand how the abuse went on for so long.

You may question why people didn't stand up and say 'no more'.

Sadly, many people who took a stand and reported their abuse waited decades for any sort of apology or acceptance of guilt by the church.

Survivors like Tony believe there are many victims who have not yet come forward to report their abuse.

"There's a lot of people out there who haven't come forward," he said.

"I know that for a fact."

But he believes people are often let down by the justice system.

"There's a lot more to come forward and taking the perpetrators to court is satisfying until you find out their sentence," Tony said.

Listen to the full story on the podcast search Voice of Real Australia, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform. You can also listen on the web player above.

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