The golden moment was a triumph of the spirit for a shy, troubled girl who dreamed of stardom but had to battle the odds to get there.

Gibney overcame debilitating anxiety attacks, a violent alcoholic father, her brother's fight with brain tumours and her own emotional breakdown to reach TV glory.

And she says she owes her win over adversity to her No. 1 fan, her mum Shirley.

After the Logie honour, Gibney fought back tears as she described her mother's resilience.

"I love my mum, I credit her with this too," she said. "I credit her a lot for what I've achieved because we did have a really sh---y upbringing in a sense because of the disease called alcoholism."

Watching the telecast from her Queensland home, Ms Gibney said the emotion of seeing her daughter honoured caught her and Gibney's five siblings off guard.

"She rang and said, 'Mum I can't talk but I've just won the silver', and, oh, I was so excited."

"I thought she would have got the outstanding actress one as well because she is outstanding and when she didn't, I thought, 'Oh, she may not get the gold'.

"Then when they announced it, I was just . . . you have no idea how I felt. I was just over the moon.

"We didn't realise how thrilled we were going to be. And so we said we've got to make it a day of celebration."

Ms Gibney, 74, said her daughter had battled panic attacks since she was 14 and, later, depression before she went to a psychologist to fight her demons.

"Many times she was at functions and she'd ask me to pay for her or just talk to her, even when she was a young girl," she recalled.

Speaking a day after taking out two of the industry's top gongs, Gibney reflected on her dark days of depression.

But she claimed the birth of her son Zac, 5, and counselling had helped her through an "emotional collapse".

"There were some very, very black days and all I can say is that I dug myself out of them and the good thing is that if I ever go into a black hole I know I can get myself out," the Gold Logie winner said.

"I remember at the time thinking I didn't know if I could come out of it, and again I had someone who could talk me through it."

Gibney said marriage, motherhood, and time spent on the family property in Tasmania's Tamar Valley had helped her keep on top of her anxiety.

She said one of her most recent panic attacks was when she was on a plane with her son.

"It hit me out of the blue, but when I took my son in my arms it was put on hold," she recalled.

"I suppose parenthood is a leveller and I understood in that moment that I had to look after the interests of another person."

Gibney has previously spoken about the domestic abuse her mother shielded from the children.

Gibney said her mother turned late-night escapes from her drunken father into adventures as she drove the six children around the block until they fell asleep.

Gibney said her mum had never blamed her father for the violence, allowing Gibney to build bridges with him before he died 27 years ago.

"He did create some awful times and awful memories, but at the heart of the person was a good soul," Gibney said.

"He had given up alcohol at that stage and he'd lost a leg and he was actually due to lose another leg through the alcoholism. He was actually a really lovely human being.

"I feel sad for him. He died at 51, he missed out on a wonderful life."

But yesterday Gibney said the golden trophy was the icing on the cake of her success story, especially since she had believed Natalie Bassingthwaite or Ian Smith would win.

"I'm so used to losing and being fine about it that I really didn't mind either way," she said. "I think that's why I was probably so excited because I wasn't expecting the gold."

Gibney said her demons had been laid to rest, with her family all revelling in her success.

"I guess being a bit older, I'm 44 now, and things that used to worry me don't bother me so much any more.

"I'm not really concerned how the world perceives me any more. I'm quite comfortable in my own skin."

Shirley Gibney said her daughter was genuinely surprised by the win.

"She said: 'I didn't realise how much I wanted the gold until I got it'," Ms Gibney said.