He thought the NSW government agreeing to increase the maximum jail term from two to five years in November 2018 would mean more people who covered up child abuse in church hierarchies would be sent to prison.

But more than two years later, there's little to show for it.

Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data shows that since the sentencing reform was introduced, there have been six charges for concealing child abuse in NSW, three of which resulted in guilty verdicts.

None of the convictions resulted in prison terms.

Two of the charges and one conviction relate to Marist Brother and convicted child sex offender William Wade, the first senior Catholic in Australia to plead guilty to concealing the child sex crimes of Catholic colleagues. But Pastor Cotton said the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse exposed many more senior clergy members who knowingly concealed child sex abuse who had not been apprehended.

He decided to speak out after being awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) last week for his work to change the legislation, which involved collecting 13,000 hand-written signatures.

While Pastor Cotton was grateful to be honoured and pleased some charges had been brought, he wondered what it was all worth if the high profile clergyman who had concealed abuse were not being put in jail.

"I have mixed emotions," Pastor Cotton said.

"It's great and very humbling to be recognised. It was really a terrific effort from the whole community.

"But it's a hollow victory unless key figures identified in the Royal Commission are brought before the courts.

"It's like having the cure for cancer but not using it."

While the new sentencing is not retrospective to past crimes, the offence is now considered "serious", giving police greater investigative powers.

Pastor Cotton said the community's expectation for punishment had also been made very clear.

He said the Royal Commission showed a culture of cover up, which allowed abuse to continue.

"The Royal Commission proved that in every denomination that was examined, pedophiles got to do what they did with impunity because they were protected," he said.

"They were given safe harbour within their institutions.

"The concealment of child sex abuse was blatant. I would like to ask the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) why isn't there action being taken against these people?

"Where is the deterrent if the high profile cases are not being brought before the courts?

"The (Hillsong Church leader and former president of Australian Christian Churches) Brian Houston investigation is a classic example. He has been under investigation for failing to report accusations about his father since 2015, why hasn't this matter been brought before the courts?

"If the people protecting pedophiles were brought to justice, the pedophiles wouldn't have got to do what they did.

"If we're going to have a break in the chain, we need to see people convicted and jailed for this offence.

"It's incumbent on the DPP to do the right thing by the community and put these people before the courts."