Phillip John Aspinall (born 17 December 1959) is an Australian Anglican bishop. He has been the archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane since February 2002 and was also the Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia from July 2005 until he stood down on 4 July 2014.Melbourne Archbishop to lead Australian Anglican Church, 29 June 2014
(Accessed 30 June 2014)

Early life and education

Aspinall was born in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, on 17 December 1959. He obtained a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

degree from the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

in 1980, a Graduate Diploma in Religious Education (GradDipRE) from Brisbane College of Advanced Education, a BD degree with Honours from

Melbourne College of Divinity The University of Divinity is an Australian collegiate university of specialisation in divinity. It is constituted by eleven theological colleges from eight denominations. The University of Divinity is the direct successor of the second oldest ...

in 1988 (through

Trinity College (University of Melbourne) Trinity College is the oldest residential college of the University of Melbourne, the first university in the colony of Victoria, Australia. The college was opened in 1872 on a site granted to the Church of England by the government of Victori ...

and the

United Faculty of Theology The United Faculty of Theology (UFT) was a recognised teaching institution of the University of Divinity in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1969 as an informal association of theological colleges and ceased operating in December 2014. The U ...

), an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

and a PhD degree in education from

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

. Aspinall worked as a computer programmer for the Tasmanian Education Department. He has worked in a number of roles in the Anglican Church in Tasmania and Victoria: with the Diocese of Tasmania as diocesan field officer for the Anglican Boys’ Society, the diocesan youth and education officer; deputy warden at Christ College in the

(1980 to 1984); director of parish education at St Stephen's Church, Mount Waverley, in the Diocese of Melbourne (1985).

Ordained ministry

Aspinall was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

a deacon in Tasmania on 25 July 1987 and a priest two years later. He served as assistant curate, assistant priest and parish priest in various locations in Tasmania including Claremont. He was director of Anglicare Tasmania (1994–1999) was Archdeacon for Church and Society for two years. Aspinall was consecrated as a bishop on 29 June 1999 in Adelaide where he served as an assistant bishop until December 2001. In 2003, a widely reported allegation of child sexual abuse by another priest, Louis Daniels, in Tasmania implicated Aspinall as being associated with the circumstances leading to the alleged abuse. Aspinall denied that he was in any way involved with the circumstances of the alleged abuse. The archbishop conceded he had written a reference for Daniels when he was sentenced in 1999. Aspinall was mentioned in the royal commission investigating sexual abuse in organisations. By his own admission, Aspinall was surprised by a "no religion" campaign which was launched by an atheist lobby group in the lead-up to the 2011 Census. In terms of social justice issues, Aspinall has spoken out against the ill-treatment of asylum seekers. Aspinall has encouraged new money-making ventures for the diocese. During the cathedral's completion several fundraising efforts were made. He has also initiated ventures to allow parishioners to tithe via direct debit and leave their estates to the diocese by distributing information about creating wills that favour the diocese. Between the retirement of

Philip Freier Philip Leslie Freier (born 9 February 1955) is an Australian Anglican bishop. He has been the 13th Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Archbishop of Melbourne since 16 December 2006. He served as Anglican Primate of Australia, Primate of Australia ...

on 31 March 2020 and the election of Geoffrey Smith on 7 April 2020, Aspinall served as interim primate. On August 29, 2022, Aspinall announced his resignation as Archbishop of Brisbane to take effect from 5PM February 2, 2023.

Personal life

Aspinall is married to Christa Aspinall with whom he has two children. In the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, Aspinall was appointed a

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AC).

References

External links

Biography on the Anglican Church of Australia's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aspinall, Phillip 1959 births Living people Companions of the Order of Australia Anglican archbishops of Brisbane Assistant bishops in the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide 21st-century Anglican archbishops 21st-century Anglican bishops in Australia People from Brisbane People from Hobart People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) Deakin University alumni Primates of the Anglican Church of Australia