Called 'Transparency and Truth', the design created by architects Jessica Spresser and Peter Besley will feature a pathway through glass archways surrounded by a field of wildflowers.

The memorial, one of the recommendations from the royal commission into child sexual abuse, will be built on the Acton Peninsula, near the National Museum of Australia.

Construction on the $6.7 million project is set to begin later this year.

The glass archways as part of the memorial are meant to signify the strength, fragility and resilience of survivors.

The memorial's design was selected by a nine-person jury who had a lived experienced, along with design industry experts, and was chaired by the royal commission's former chair Peter McClellan.

Families and Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said the memorial would be a step towards healing for many survivors.

"The national memorial would stand as a place of truth and reflection for people with lived experience and their families and supporters," she said.

"(The memorial will be) an enduring reminder of the responsibility to create a safer world for our children."

The architects said the memorial would represent both the fragility and resilience of survivors.

"The memorial design seeks to hold in balance an acknowledgement of strength and vitality on the one hand and recognition of trauma and loss on the other," they said in a statement.

"The individual pieces of cast glass carry immense loads yet together create forms of exceptional grace and lightness."

Australian Associated Press