The Catholic Church has made a record payment of $2.45 million to a Perth man who is a survivor of child sexual abuse.

The 52-year-old was groomed and sexually abused by a WA priest in the late 1970s.

He was aged 10 at the first offence.

Lawyers involved in similar cases believe the settlement is up to $1 million higher than any previous payouts awarded to someone suing the Church.

Lawyer Michael Magazanik says under the federal government’s redress scheme the compensation payout would have been capped at $150,000.

“By suing the catholic church, which is the institution responsible for his abuse, he has got orders of magnitude greater than he would have got under the redress scheme,” he said.

“Survivors have legal rights they should explore their legal options outside the regress scheme, because that regress scheme should just be a safety net if they have no other option.”

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