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. 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. 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.
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.Anglican Media. & Angela Grutzner & Associates. 1995, The Australian Anglican directoryAnglican Media and Angela Grutzner & Associates. The Australian Anglican directory, 2015The Anglican Church of Australia, 2021, Directory / Anglican Church of Australia
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).
Perth
7 March 1992
Arney, Elizabeth Emmaline (Betty) Couche, Elizabeth Mae Goldsworthy, Kay Maree Halbert, Constance Pamela Hall, Jennifer Robin (Jenny) Milne, Teresa Catherine (Tess) Peterkin, Judith Mary Pinner, Catherine Joyce (Cathy) Polson, Joyce Sylvia Tandy, Robin Kathleen Barbara
Adelaide
5 December 1992
Claring-Bould, Joan Rosemary Monahan (Walters), Flora Elizabeth (Flo) Pain, Susanna Leigh Rees, Pamela Juliana (Sr Juliana) Straub, Susan Frances
Rockhampton
12 December 1992
Blackford, Barbara Frances Lake, Jacqueline (Jackie) Quaife, Lucy Lee Whitehead, Janne Eileen
Melbourne
13 December 1992, 16 December 1992, 21 December 1992
Alfred, Mary Elizabeth (Elizabeth) Campbell, Frances Adair Chambers (Watson), Susanne Judith Clarke, Alison Lynne (Lynne) Cruickshank, Kim Dawn Darling, Barbara Brinsley Dean (Dennis), Elizabeth Ann Good, Nanette Henrietta Irving Granowski, Helen Barbara Hall, Joanne Margaret Harrison, Ruth Margaret Hartley, Margaret Isabel Heskett, Margaret Anne (Sr Margaret Anne) Hetzel, Anna Jane Killigrew (Ann) Johnson, Janet Mary Letts, Lineve Joy (Joy) Maddock, Willy Ruth Marten, Heather Ruth Nixon, Geraldine Elizabeth Pace, Barbara Jean Payne, Robin Ashley Pearce, Jo-Iris Aline (Jo) Lamphard Pinchbeck, Gail Phyllis Prowd (Urwin), Catherine Jane (Kate) Richards, Elizabeth May Roath, Hilary Ann Rockwell (Dunn), Jennifer Maureen (Jenny) Saunders, Lydia Sherlock, Peta Robin Simondson, Adrienne Louise Sutherland (Inglis), Jennifer Frances (Jenny) Taplin, Clemence Charlotte Faith (Clem) Turner, Amy Inez
Bendigo
19 December 1992
Hannah, Carlie
Bathurst
19 December 1992
Percival, Verney Clare (Clare) Voerman, Margaret
Canberra and Goulburn
20 December 1992
Cullen, Helen Victoria (Vicky) Dittmar-McCollim, Ann Dudzinski, Anne Elizabeth Gifford, Elaine Margaret Kelley, Julie Rosamonde May, Daphne Jean Mendham, (Jill) later Varcoe, Gillian Joan Mills (Dudley), Ruth Isabel Phillips, Pamela Jean Streatfield, Margaret Louise Tabor, Barbara Gail
Brisbane
20 December 1992
Graydon, Christine Valerie (Val) King, Patricia Eileen Pascoe, Joan Pitman, Kaye Shaw, Leah Mary Thomson, Eileen Grace
Newcastle
21 December 1992
Armstrong, Maree Lillian Bourne, Sheila Margaret Carr, Margaret Mary Fuller, Audrey Ann Howard, Barbara Janice Pate, Beatrice Perry, Julia Frances Harriet Sauber, Pamela Vera (Pam) Solling, Wendy Hope (Sr Angela) Tibbey, Valerie Joan (Val) Willsher, Jennifer Kay (Jenny)
Tasmania
21 December 1992
Crawshaw, Patricia Margaret Fraser, Elvie Pearl Gaden, Janet Eade Le Rossignol, Barbara Helen Fawcett Perrott (Perrott-Russell), Rosemary Alexandra Weaver, Rosina Yearsley, Honor Helen
Ordained outside Australia but granted licences or permission to officiate as priest in 1992
Kenyon, Colleen Dawn. Ordained priest in Auckland NZ 1987, licensed as Priest in Perth in January 1992.
Leaves (Craig-Leaves), Julie Elizabeth. Ordained priest in Hong Kong 1992, licensed as Priest in Perth and Brisbane from 1992.Julie Leaves was ordained priest in St John's Cathedral Hong Kong but moved to Perth soon after where she was granted permission to officiate then to Brisbane where she has spent most of her career as a chaplain or priest. She is sometimes counted as a woman priest ordained in Australia in 1992. Pearce, Caroline Heath. Ordained priest 1988 Newark US, Licensed as Priest in Melbourne from December 1992.
Notes
See also
Ordination of women Ordination of women in Christianity Ordination of women in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney List of the first 32 women ordained as Church of England priests Timeline of women's ordination
References