Flood of tales for abuse inquiry Victims groups are bracing for a flood of people wanting to give evidence about child sexual abuse, as the royal commission holds its first sitting in Melbourne this week. The royal commission on child sexual abuse will outline how it plans to deal with the sensitive nature of the evidence it will hear at the session at the County Court of Victoria on Wednesday. It will not take evidence, but the sitting will be the first major update on how the commission will work since the six commissioners were appointed in January. Tens of thousands of Australians are expected to come forward over the three-year life of the inquiry to tell their stories of abuse in institutions such as schools, churches and orphanages. Given the huge workload for the commission, organisations such as child advocacy group Bravehearts are preparing to "triage" the information they receive before it reaches the commission to make sure it is useful and to support those coming forward. Bravehearts says it already receives 300 to 350 calls a week about the commission and is expecting that number to rise as the commission opens. It has already put on an extra two counsellors since the commission was first flagged by Prime Minister Julia Gillard last November. Executive director Hetty Johnston said a frequent question from callers was: "Is my story good enough ... Can it help the commission?" To help sort through the information, Bravehearts will use an online system that allows people to upload information anonymously and for information on alleged offenders to be separated from that of complainants, allowing bodies such as the police to pick up patterns of abuse. Ms Johnston predicted that many victims would want to remain anonymous as they would not be confident enough to appear before an "authority figure" like the royal commission. Adults Surviving Child Abuse is also looking to use online templates and is moving to a new office space this week, to make way for a bigger call centre that takes calls out of business hours. President Cathy Kezelman said ASCA hoped to double its its number of counsellors from next month to 16. "We don't think we've seen the start of it yet," Dr Kezelman said. Care Leavers Australia Network is fielding and making 400 calls, emails and letters a week about the commission. Chief executive Leonie Sheedy said CLAN was also taking distressed calls from the partners of those who had been abused. Sydney truck driver Richard Parker, 53, who was abused as a schoolboy in the 1970s, has already contacted the commission to register his interest. While his case went to court in 2009 and the perpetrator - a teacher - was given jail time, Mr Parker wants to ensure that other victims get adequate support when they come forward. "It's good to see it starting to happen," he said of Wednesday's sitting. I don't mind if it's 10 years. I've already waited for 30-something. The commission is due to make an interim report in the middle of 2014 and a final report by the end of 2015.