Maggie Kirkpatrick, who also appeared in Hey Dad!, Blue Heelers and Home and Away, has been charged with two counts of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency with a person under 16 years.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the 74-year-old would face court the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on August 19.

Kirkpatrick has told News Corp Australia she will fight to clear her name.

"I need to go to court to have this ridiculous situation quashed," she told the outlet from her home in Sydney's north-west.

"Allegations have been levelled at me, yes. Are they true? Absolutely not.

"The evidence is in the court. I don't think it's appropriate that I say any more." 

News Corp Australia has also reported they understand the alleged incident occurred in the 1980s and involved a 13-year-old girl. Police sources said there was no connection to the entertainment industry.

Kirkpatrick is best known for playing lesbian prison officer Joan Ferguson, nicknamed "The Freak", on the popular soapie Prisoner.

The Albury-born actor has also appeared in other Australian TV shows, including All Saints, Pizza, Water Rats and G. P.

More recently, she scored a role as Madame Morrible​ in the Australian production of the musical Wicked.

Her website biography says she and her brother were brought up by a single mother after their father was killed in North Africa when she was six-months-old.

A disinterest in school led her to leave at age fifteen, but after a range of jobs she rediscovered her love of acting on Sydney's stages.

The mother of one daughter was propelled to global fame in her role on Prisoner.

Kirkpatrick's Hey Dad! co-star Robert Hughes was jailed for 10 years and nine months last year after being found guilty of child sex offences.