Lawyer Zagi Kozarov worked at the Office of Public Prosecutions Specialist Sexual Offences Unit between 2009 and 2012 before she had to stop.

During her time in the specialist unit the 45-year-old said she dealt with cases of "abhorrent nature" including rapes and offences of "gross depravity".

"There was not a day that I wasn't exposed to it," Ms Kozarov said of her exposure to graphic images of rapes or assaults on children while in the unit.

The lawyer was left with ongoing post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder from her former job, Supreme Court Justice Jane Dixon found.

She felt she was not adequately supported or protected from the risk of psychiatric injury she faced and along with disturbing content, faced an intense workload.

The mother-of-two sued the State of Victoria in 2016 over its failings.

Lawyers for the government denied liability for negligence, breach of contract, or breach of statutory in their management of Ms Kozarov.

The OPP also took all reasonable steps to protect the plaintiff and move her, once the department became aware of her issues, they said.

But Justice Dixon on Wednesday found her employer breached their duty of care to the lawyer.

She awarded Ms Kozarov $435,000 to compensate her for the loss and damage she has suffered as a result of the psychiatric injury.

Australian Associated Press