Are women able to be priests in the Anglican Church of Australia?
This was a controversial and much debated issue in the Anglican Church during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Women were first ordained as deacons in the Anglican Church of Australia in 1986, and as priests in 1992. Despite no clear legislation having passed through General Synod, Archbishop Peter Carnley ordained the first Australian women Anglican priests on 7th March 1992 in Perth. Later that year on 21 November 1992, the General Synod passed legislation that opened the way for dioceses who wished to ordain women to be able to do so. Currently out of the 23 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia, only the Dioceses of Ballarat, North West Australia, Sydney and The Murray do not ordain women as priests. The Diocese of Armidale does so but on a limited basis. Wangaratta was the latest to permit women priests with their Synod passing national legislation in 2007. Of those not ordaining women as priests, only Ballarat and The Murray, do not ordain women as deacons. The number of wo
