Children would also be taught from preschool to recognise signs of grooming and protect themselves against sexual abuse or exploitation as part of the school curriculum.

Of nearly 7000 survivors who met with the commissioners, almost a third reported being sexually abused in a school setting - a quarter of those in public schools and a third in boarding schools.

In private schools, the commission's final report blamed "hyper-masculine and hierarchical cultures", lax attitudes to hiring ex-students and concerns about the school's reputation or finances as factors contributing to their inadequate responses to child abuse.

It found three-quarters of school abuse survivors were male, and the first instances of abuse commonly occurred between 10 and 14, especially among girls. A quarter of those who reported abuse at school said they suffered academic difficulties as a result.

Of those who identified their abuser as an adult, 96.2 per cent of those adults were male, more than half were teachers and four in 10 were in religious ministry. Of those abused at private schools, almost three-quarters were at Catholic schools.

The report also expressed concern about "clusters" of perpetrators acting together, such as The Hutchins School in Tasmania, where a group of alleged abusers led by headmaster David Lawrence acted in the 1960s.

Over five years, the commission examined specific allegations of abuse at schools including Knox Grammar in Sydney, the Marist Brothers colleges, Geelong Grammar and many others, often pointing the finger at the schools' "ineffective leadership".

Former Knox Grammar headmaster Ian Paterson covered up abuse allegations and deliberately withheld information from police, an earlier report found.

Boys' boarding schools were at high risk, partly due to "poor institutional cultures such as strong hierarchies and allegiance to the institution", Friday's report concluded.

In many instances, children - more commonly older students - were "groomed so extensively that they believed they were in a 'relationship' with the perpetrator".

In response, the royal commission recommended states and territories make it easier for victims to sue schools that allow abuse to happen. This would involve legislating a non-delegable duty of care that applies regardless of whether the school was negligent.

The provision would also apply to preschools, day care and other facilities that look after children. States should also reverse the onus of proof and require schools to demonstrate what steps they took to prevent abuse, the commission recommended. The measures would not be retrospective and would not open up a litany of historic claims.

Furthermore, the commission recommended a national program to teach children about abuse prevention, to be embedded in the curriculum from preschool to grade 10.

This would involve learning to recognise grooming and other forms of abuse, understanding perpetrators can be people you know, identifying safe and unsafe situations, and self-protection skills and strategies.

There would also be additional education for parents, tertiary students preparing to work in child-related fields, and people who believe they are at risk of abusing children, based on the British program Stop It Now!

Teachers and other staff would also be liable for the new criminal offence of failing to report child sexual abuse. It would apply even where a teacher did not know about or suspect the abuse, but should have suspected in their circumstances.

The royal commission also recommended child safety officers be appointed by councils across Australia to improve safety within sporting and recreational institutions.

The commission's report on sport, recreation, arts, culture community and hobby group recommends that local governments create the roles to help community-based institutions. Officers would work to improve safety in change rooms, club rooms and at sporting grounds.