Late night evacuations, moving countries and an inability to earn money due to living under a secret identity have left Nicola Gobbo in a "holding pattern" for almost five years.
The issues the former lawyer has faced since going into hiding in 2019, after she was outed as Informer 3838, were aired on day two of her civil trial against Victoria Police.
Her barrister Tim Tobin SC said Ms Gobbo and her family were relocated several times in Australia before moving overseas in late 2021.
They spent 14 months in one location before being evacuated to a hotel in the middle of the night in March 2021 after "a man in a leather jacket" walked past their house looking "suspicious", Mr Tobin told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Ms Gobbo and her family were then relocated to an isolated farmhouse until they moved overseas after finding what they thought would be a safe country.
She changed her name, got surgery and flew a "considerable distance" in December 2021, however the new country felt "filthy, dirty and unsafe", Mr Tobin said.
"As a consequence of what the plaintiff has been exposed to over the last now four-and-a-half years, nearly five years, the plaintiff suffers from a high level of depression and anxiety," he said.
Her children have also been forced to assume new identities, and changes to their locations and schooling.
The impact has left them with psychological effects that will continue for the rest of their lives, he said.
Mr Tobin detailed how difficult it was for Ms Gobbo to obtain medical treatment for her conditions, due to not being able to use her former name to access previous health records unless she goes to a court for permission.
Ms Gobbo's other health conditions include vascular issues, pain in her neck from a transport accident and jaw clenching, he said.
Mr Tobin said his client had not been able to earn a living as she cannot tell employers her previous work or educational history.
"The plaintiff would love to go back to work," he said.
"She finds herself totally frustrated going into the employment market, she certainly has no employment history that she could rely upon."
Ms Gobbo cannot access financial investments held under her previous name, including shares or real estate, and cannot sign leases or other contracts.
"She's in a holding pattern and it's impossible from outside this jurisdiction, she feels, to do anything to get herself out of that holding pattern," Mr Tobin said.
"That holding pattern is one which is causing her a great vexation, inconvenience and increasing the problems of her injuries."
The only way out for Ms Gobbo is legislative change around witness protection, however Mr Tobin said this was "yet to be seen".
"The plaintiff's claim before the court is a claim for her pain and suffering damages within the scope of that," he said.
"It's the psychological injury, the restriction in access to and maintenance of treatment, and under the general damages, the vexation and inconvenience that she suffers from as a consequence of what has occurred in relation to her."
Ms Gobbo is expected to give evidence to the court from a secret location, with her identity hidden, as the trial before Justice Melinda Richards continues on Wednesday.
Ms Gobbo was registered three times as a police informer in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Former clients included Tony Mokbel, Faruk Orman and Zlate Cvetanovski, who have successfully had convictions overturned.
