The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports that the Rt Revd Kay Goldsworthy has been elected the first female Anglican Archbishop in Australia.
The Archbishop-elect became the first female Anglican bishop in Australia in 2008, when she was appointed assistant bishop of Perth.
Currently working as the Bishop of Gippsland, in Victoria, Bishop Goldsworthy will return to WA to take up her new position next year.
Formerly a chaplain of Perth Anglican girls’ school, Perth College, Bishop Goldsworthy was ordained a deacon in 1986 and joined the priesthood in 1992.
Her election follows an eight-month selection process by the Church, following the departure of former archbishop Roger Herft in December.
Reverend Herft stood down after giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, saying he had badly “let down” survivors in the Diocese of Newcastle, where he served between 1993 and 2005.
Bishop Goldsworthy said she hoped her election as Archbishop would inspire other women in the Church to seek leadership roles.
Read more at the ABC.
Photo via gippsanglican.org.au