The woman, who has a terminal condition, was in April awarded $1.6 million in damages after suing her former schoolteacher for sexually abusing her.
Following a civil trial in the Supreme Court of Tasmania, Stephen Noga was found on the balance of probabilities to have raped the woman at a hotel in 1981 when she was 16 and his student.
The state of Tasmania was found vicariously liable but not directly liable for acts committed by Noga when he was employed as a teacher.
The woman was awarded $1,444,800 in damages, to be paid by Noga and the state.
Noga was ordered to pay $200,000 in exemplary damages, with the judge saying his actions showed a shocking, deliberate and intentional disregard of the woman's rights.
But unresolved arguments between Noga and the state about their contributions to the payout led to a court order preventing the woman receiving the money.
At an appeal hearing on Wednesday, the woman's lawyer said it was her right to obtain the $1.4 million from the state.
There was no prospect of her getting money from Noga any time soon, Bruce McTaggart KC said.
"She now is being denied the damages she was awarded ... for four months," he said.
"The evidence in July was she had a few months to live."
The court was expected to hear an appeal filed by Noga seeking to have the payout ruling set aside, but it was adjourned until September 4 over a dispute about facts.
Lawyer for the state Catherine Scott opposed the order being lifted and rejected a claim the state had acted slowly during the process of determining their payout contribution.
The contribution question could not be answered until after the judgment because the extent of liability had not been finalised, she said.
There was also a delay in sorting the contribution question due to a ground of Noga's appeal, which the state wasn't a part of, she said.
Justice Robert Pearce and the two other presiding judges were unanimous in lifting the order.
The fact the contribution question was unresolved and an appeal was underway were not reasons to prevent the woman from accessing the compensation, Justice Pearce said.
Noga, who has not been charged criminally, denied sexually abusing the woman when she was his student.
He says they had sex twice in the months after she graduated, once she had turned 17.
Noga's appeal contains several grounds, including that social media posts made by the judge presiding over his case impeded his impartiality.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
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