Kay Humphreys has retired from Linden Place after 23 years. The organisation is a confidential counselling service provided for children and adolescents, to 18 years of age, who have been sexually abused.

"I have been very fulfilled in this position," Ms Humphreys said. "I love children. It's always been a poorly paid position ... but it was never about the money. It was always about the children and their families, the healing and justice."

Ms Humphreys said her passion for social justice and ensuring every child can grow up safe kept her going through the years.

When she first started working at Linden Place, Ms Humphreys intended to only stay for three years to get it up and running.

"It nearly closed down when I first started," she said.

"They were finding it hard to fill the position because of the low salary, they were finding it hard to get a suitably qualified person, the resources were almost non-existent, and it didn't have a very good reputation.

"After three years, there was nothing that I could imagine I wanted to do more."

Ms Humphreys found her work to be more than just a job to pay the bills, it was a vocation.

"It's impossible to become desensitised," she said.

"Every child that walks in the door, I look at their beautiful faces, and my first thought is 'how could someone harm a child?'. Then I put that aside, and I focus on working with them."

Ms Humphreys had to find creative ways to build a rapport with children, especially the younger ones.

"We worked with the children through art and play, there are lots of mediums we used," she said. "I don't rush them. I always say to them 'this is a safe place to be'."

Ms Humphreys said there was no denying her job was tough, but the people around her over the years have been a rock of support.

"I would like to thank Kylie Irlam, who has given me strong supervision, and she has been wonderful," she said. "I would also like to thank Helen West, and the rest of my colleagues have been superb."

Before she worked in Linden Place, Ms Humphreys worked in jails as a social worker.

"Parramatta Jail was a tough place to work in because it was a remand jail so all the inmates were highly stressed, not knowing what their sentence would be and if they were going to be convicted," she said.

"It was interesting working with all these big, tough-looking men. Whenever they would come into my office, I would always have soft music playing, and these big tough men would always break down and cry."

Ms Humphreys said she a majority of the inmates she worked with had shocking childhoods. One client found his mother's body after she overdosed when he was a child.

"The white-collar workers were a bit different," Ms Humphreys said. "They were very popular because a lot of the inmates were illiterate so they would write letters for them."

Setting firm boundaries was a crucial element of her work. On her first day, an inmate walked in and referred to Ms Humphreys as "darling" after she introduced herself.

"I said 'My name is Kay' and he said 'Alright love'," she said. "So I kicked him out and said 'come back when you can remember my name'.

"For the rest of the day, I had guys coming in and saying 'I hear you don't take any shit'."

Ms Humphreys added the hardest part of her career was knowing the suffering that some adults subject children to.

But despite the tough aspect of her job, she held onto the positive moments.

"There were so many highlights," Ms Humphreys said. "Despite what the kids had been through, they would laugh. I would not change a thing if I had my time over."

Ms Humphreys said her journey is far from over, as she prepares to travel the world and spend time with her family.

Her parting message to the community after her years of service?

"Always listen to the children and your gut," Ms Humphreys said. "If you feel like something is wrong, it probably is."