See also
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For the first time women were ordained as priests in the Anglican Church of Australia in 1992. These women are notable as a group as the ordinations were a historic milestone for the church. [1] The debates in the General Synod and diocesan synods of the church about the proposal to ordain women were reported in church and mainstream press in the years leading up to 1992, as were the ordination services in 1992. The first ordination service in Perth was televised. [2] [3] The anniversary of the 1992 ordination of women priests is regularly celebrated in the relevant dioceses and the women's names are often listed in media reports of those ceremonial services. [4] [5] [2] [6] [7]
There were 90 women ordained as priests in Australia in 1992. Three women were ordained priests in other countries but were given permission to officiate in Australia in 1992. [8] [9] [10] [11]
The dioceses are listed in chronological order of the dates they ordained the first women as priests. The women are listed alphabetically under the diocese in which they were ordained. The last name is the name they were ordained under. A later married name is in brackets after their last name and a preferred first name is also in brackets after their first name(s).
The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the Catholic Church. According to the 2016 census, 3.1 million Australians identify as Anglicans. As of 2016, the Anglican Church of Australia had more than 3 million nominal members and 437,880 active baptised members. For much of Australian history since the arrival of the First Fleet in January 1788, the church was the largest religious denomination. It remains today one of the largest providers of social welfare services in Australia.
Peter Frederick Carnley is a retired Australian Anglican bishop and author. He was the Archbishop of Perth from 1981 to 2005 and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia from 2000 until May 2005. He ordained the first women priests in Australia. In the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours list, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia. He is married to Ann Carnley. He also founded the school Peter Carnley Anglican Community School.
The Anglican Diocese of Armidale is a diocese of the Anglican Church of Australia located in the state of New South Wales. As the Diocese of Grafton and Armidale, it was created by letters patent in 1863. When the Anglican Diocese of Grafton was split off in 1914, the remaining portion was renamed Armidale, retaining its legal continuity and its incumbent bishop.
The Anglican Diocese of The Murray is located in the south-eastern region of South Australia. Founded in 1970 as part of the Province of South Australia, it takes in the Fleurieu Peninsula, Riverland, Adelaide Hills, Murraylands and the southern suburbs of Adelaide. In 2011 the diocese had 22 parishes or pastoral districts. The cathedral church of the diocese is the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Murray Bridge. The most recent bishop is Keith Dalby, who has served from June 2019 but stepped aside in December 2023.
The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Victoria in the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese was founded from the Diocese of Australia by letters patent of 25 June 1847 and includes the cities of Melbourne and Geelong and also some more rural areas. The cathedral church is St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne. The current Archbishop of Melbourne since 2006 is Philip Freier, who was translated from the Anglican Diocese of The Northern Territory, and who was the Anglican Primate of Australia from 2014 to 2020.
Kay Maree Goldsworthy is an Australian bishop of the Anglican Church of Australia. She is the current archbishop of Perth in the Province of Western Australia. Upon her installation as archbishop, on 10 February 2018, she became the first female archbishop in the Anglican Church of Australia. Previously, she served as diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Gippsland in the south-eastern Australian state of Victoria.
Alfred Charles Holland was an Australian Anglican bishop. He was consecrated as a bishop on 6 August 1972 and was an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Perth before becoming the diocesan Bishop of Newcastle in New South Wales from 1978 to 1992.
The ordination of women in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney is restricted to the diaconate. The diocese rejects the ordination of women as priests and bishops.
The ordination of women in the Anglican Communion has been increasingly common in certain provinces since the 1970s. Several provinces, however, and certain dioceses within otherwise ordaining provinces, continue to ordain only men. Disputes over the ordination of women have contributed to the establishment and growth of progressive tendencies, such as the Anglican realignment and Continuing Anglican movements.
The Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW) was the name used by organisations in England and Australia that campaigned for the ordination of women as deacons, priests and bishops in the Anglican Communion.
Patricia Anne Brennan AM was an Australian medical doctor and a prominent campaigner for the ordination of women in the Anglican Church of Australia. She became a member of the Order of Australia in 1993.
Sarah Macneil is a retired Anglican bishop in Australia. She was the Bishop of Grafton in the Anglican Church of Australia. She was consecrated and installed as bishop on 1 March 2014, becoming the first woman in Australia to lead a diocese.
Elizabeth Alfred was an Anglican priest in Melbourne, Australia. She was the first woman to be ordained as a priest in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, in 1992.
Keith William Dalby is an Australian Anglican bishop who has been Bishop of The Murray since 2019 but stepped aside in December 2023 and is not currently serving.
Colleen Anne O'Reilly is an Australian Anglican priest. She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2021 in recognition of her significant service to the Anglican Church of Australia, and to religious education. O'Reilly has been a strong advocate for women's leadership in the Anglican Church and women's ordination since the 1970s and described by Muriel Porter as "the ‘mother' of the movement that was a key factor in bringing about the ordination of women through many years of determined struggle".
This is a timeline of notable moments in the history of women's ordination in the world's religious traditions. It is not an exhaustive list of all historic or contemporary ordinations of women.
Peta Sherlock (1946-) is an Australian Anglican priest who was formerly Dean of the Anglican Diocese of Bendigo at St Paul's Anglican Cathedral, Bendigo. She was one of the first women ordained as an Anglican deacon in 1986 then as an Anglican priest in 1992 and the first woman Dean of an Anglican diocese in Australia.
Susanna Pain is an Australian Anglican priest, former Dean of St Paul's Anglican Cathedral, Sale in Victoria, Australia and spiritual director. She was one of the first women ordained as an Anglican priest in Australia in 1992, one of the five women ordained in Adelaide, and the first female dean of St Paul's, Diocese of Gippsland. The features of her ministry have been pastoral care, leading spiritual retreats and contemplative prayer, and encouraging use of the creative and performance arts for worship.
The Movement for the Ordination of Women was an Australian newsletter published by the Movement for the Ordination of Women. The newsletter, which had multiple title variations over the years, was produced between 1984 and 1997, and provides a record of the history of the movement.
Preachers, Prophets and Heretics is a book published in 2012 to mark the 20th anniversary of the ordination of women as priests in the Anglican Church in Australia. It was edited by Elaine Lindsay and Janet Scarfe.