The Anglican Church of Australia will soon elect a new national leader, following the announcement that the current Primate and Archbishop of Adelaide, Geoffrey Smith, will retire later this year. The public announcement was made via St Peter’s Cathedral, Adelaide, where Archbishop Smith has served as diocesan bishop since 2017.
A Facebook post from the Cathedral stated: “Archbishop Geoff will lay up the Pastoral Staff at a celebration in St Peter’s Cathedral on Saturday 1 November, the Feast of All Saints. We wish him and Lynn well as they prepare for a new season of ministry in their own lives.”
In a letter to Adelaide clergy dated May 2, Smith said, “The time is right for Lynn and I to reconnect with family and friends by moving back to Queensland… I have sought to time my resignation so that most of my commitments for the year will be completed, and to give the Synod an opportunity to meet before the end of the year to elect the eleventh bishop of the Diocese.”
Archbishop Smith, who has served in ordained ministry for 43 years, was consecrated bishop in Brisbane in 2007 and became Archbishop of Adelaide a decade later. In 2020, he was elected Primate—President of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia and Chair of its Standing Committee.
His six-year term has included guiding the Church nationally during the COVID-19 pandemic and periods of theological division which he noted with concern in July 2021 letter to fellow bishops:
“The difficulty I have… is that some leaders in the ACA are leaders in Gafcon and its board. My expectation is that people who say they are committed to the Anglican church, and who have made oaths and promises upholding its constitution and canons and therefore its governance processes, would be committed to keeping it strong, united and effective. I have to say this is difficult to see in Gafcon’s statement and proposed actions. It feels like the life of our church is being undermined from within.”
A new Primate will be chosen by a Board of Electors, as outlined in the Primate Canon 1985. This body includes all diocesan bishops, 12 clergy, and 12 laity elected by the General Synod. A candidate must be a current diocesan bishop under the age of 70 and must receive a majority vote in each of the three houses of bishops, clergy, and laity.
Because Archbishop Smith has nominated a future retirement date (November 1), the Canon requires that the Board of Electors meet between May and August to choose his successor. The meeting is expected to occur in July.
While the Primate holds no legal authority over other dioceses, the role includes pastoral oversight, chairing national church meetings, and representing the Church internationally, including at the Anglican Communion Primates’ Meeting hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The upcoming election may reflect recent shifts in the Church’s national leadership. The 2022 General Synod saw conservatives gain significant influence over key committees, including the Standing Committee and Board of Electors. Commentator Muriel Porter observed at the time that “progressive Anglican clergy and laity from around the country who had long been members of the committee have been cast aside.”
The election of a new metropolitan bishop for the Province of South Australia will be a separate diocesan process, that will ideally have a new diocesan bishop in place before the August 2026 session of General Synod.
At May 2025, the serving diocesan bishops are:
Province of Queensland
Jeremy Greaves – Archbishop of Brisbane (Metropolitan of QLD)
Keith Joseph – Bishop of North Queensland
Greg Anderson – Bishop of Northern Territory
Peter Grice – Bishop of Rockhampton
Province of New South Wales
Kanishka Raffel – Archbishop of Sydney (Metropolitan of NSW)
Rod Chiswell – Bishop of Armidale
Mark Calder – Bishop of Bathurst
Mark Short – Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn
Murray Harvey – Bishop of Grafton
Peter Stuart – Bishop of Newcastle
Donald Kirk – Bishop of Riverina
Province of Victoria
Garry Weatherill – Bishop of Ballarat
Matthew Brain – Bishop of Bendigo
Richard Treloar – Bishop of Gippsland
Clarence Bester – Bishop of Wangaratta
(Vacant: Archbishop of Melbourne)
Province of South Australia
Jeremy James – Bishop of Willochra
(Stood aside: Bishop of The Murray)
(Outgoing: Geoffrey Smith, Archbishop of Adelaide — retiring Nov 2025)
Province of Western Australia
Kay Goldsworthy – Archbishop of Perth (Metropolitan of WA)
Ian Coutts – Bishop of Bunbury
Darrell Parker – Bishop of North West Australia
Extra-Provincial
Richard Condie – Bishop of Tasmania