Peter John Hollingworth (born 10 April 1935) is an Australian retired

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

bishop. Engaged in social work for several decades, he served as the archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

for 11 years from 1989 and was the 1991

Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...

. He served as the 23rd

governor-general of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, Hollingworth moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Victoria, in 1940. After attending Lloyd Street and Murrumbeena primary schools he received his secondary-school education at Scotch College, Melbourne, then began a cadetship with

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, an Australian mining company.

Education and career

Hollingworth was conscripted for

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in 1953 and, after basic training at the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

base at

Point Cook Point Cook is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Point Cook recorded a population of 66,781 at the 2021 census. Point Cook ...

, he began working in the chaplain's office and discerned a vocation to ordained ministry. After matriculating in 1954 he enrolled at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, residing at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

as a member of its school of theology. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1958 and a Licentiate of Theology in 1959. On 6 February 1960 he married Kathleen Ann Turner, an obstetric physiotherapist, whom he had met while on

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

. The couple have three daughters. Hollingworth was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1960. He became deacon-in-charge and then priest-in-charge of St Mary's North Melbourne, in a group ministry of the Anglican Inner City Mission within the Melbourne Diocesan Centre. In 1964 he joined the

Brotherhood of St Laurence The Brotherhood of St Laurence is an Australian not-for-profit organisation working toward an Australia free of poverty. The Brotherhood (as it is colloquially known) has its headquarters in Melbourne but provides services and programs across Au ...

, an independent Anglican welfare organisation, as chaplain and director of youth and children's work, then as director of social policy and research. He completed a master's degree in social work and in 1980 was appointed executive director of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, where he served for 25 years and was involved in other associated community and welfare bodies. He wrote several books about his work with the poor which became educational texts. As a public advocate on welfare policy he argued that "poverty should be looked at in terms of the structure of society rather than the individual case." He was elected a canon of St Paul's Cathedral in 1980 and became the Bishop in the Inner City upon his consecration, 24 February 1985. In 1989 he was elected the 8th

Archbishop of Brisbane In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

, where he continued his advocacy for the poor and underprivileged and supported the

ordination of women The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordina ...

. He was chairman of the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless National NGO Committee and was named

for 1991, being described as "Australia’s foremost spokesman for social justice". He used his public profile to criticise government policy in relation to Aboriginal welfare and youth unemployment. In 1998, he attended as an appointed delegate to the

1998 Australian Constitutional Convention The 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention was a Constitutional Convention which gathered at Old Parliament House, Canberra from 2 to 13 February 1998. It was called by the Howard Government to discuss whether Australia should become a rep ...

Governor-General of Australia

On 22 April 2001 the

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

, announced that

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

had accepted his advice to appoint Hollingworth as

Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.William Deane's term. He was the first Christian cleric to hold the post, though precedent existed at a state level where Aboriginal pastor

Sir Doug Nicholls Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls, (9 December 1906 – 4 June 1988) was a prominent Aboriginal Australian from the Yorta Yorta people. He was a professional athlete, Churches of Christ pastor and church planter, ceremonial officer and a pioneering ...

and

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

minister Sir Keith Seaman had served as

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-gene ...

and Davis McCaughey had served as

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and the ...

. On 29 June 2001, Hollingworth was sworn in as Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Force. As the governor-general is the chancellor and principal 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 ...

, Hollingworth was appointed a companion of the order (AC) on 29 June 2001.

Resignation

In December 2001, allegations were raised that, during his time as Archbishop of Brisbane, Hollingworth had failed to deal appropriately with sex abuse allegations made against a church teacher at

Toowoomba Preparatory School , motto_translation = , location = Toowoomba, Queensland , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Queensland , pushpin_image = , pushpin_maps ...

. That month, the Brisbane Anglican diocese was ordered to pay $834,800 damages to the woman who had been found to have been sexually abused.

Hetty Johnston Hetty Margarete Johnston (born 27 September 1958), is the founder of Bravehearts Inc., an organisation advocating for better child protection in Australia. She remains a lobbyist who often highlights and promotes action against paedophilia wit ...

, an advocate for child sex abuse victims, instigated a campaign calling for Hollingworth to resign. Hollingworth told the Australian media that, as a newly appointed archbishop at the time, he lacked the experience to handle the matter. He also said he had not believed that the case involved sexual abuse, but conceded he had not done enough to stop abuses occurring. Hollingworth subsequently apologised to the Toowoomba victim and released a formal statement condemning child sexual abuse but by February 2002, the Labor Opposition was calling for Hollingworth to be dismissed. Hollingworth stepped down from his positions as the Brisbane Lions' No 1 ticket holder, patron of Barnardo's, Kids First Foundation and the National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. Phillip Aspinall, Hollingworth's successor as archbishop, ordered an inquiry, which concluded that in 1993 Hollingworth had allowed a known paedophile to continue working as a priest. In May 2003, the report by the Diocese of Brisbane into the handling of the cases was tabled in the Queensland parliament by Premier of Queensland, Peter Beattie. On 8 May, Hollingworth issued a public statement denying allegations that he had raped a woman in the 1960s. Both the deputy prime minister,

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, and the treasurer,

Peter Costello Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving treasurer in Australia' ...

, indicated in early May that Hollingworth should consider his position. After meeting with Howard on 11 May, Hollingworth stood aside. On 28 May 2003, he announced his resignation and his commission as governor-general was revoked as of 29 May 2003.

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

In 2015–2016, Hollingworth faced questions as part of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in regards to his handling of abuse claims while he was Archbishop of Brisbane. He has apologised to victims for not pursuing their claims more rigorously.

Honours

In 1976, Hollingworth was appointed an officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) and in 1988 he was appointed an officer of the

(AO) for his work in church and community. In 2001 he was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

and later the same year was promoted to companion of the Order of Australia (AC) upon his appointment as Governor General taking effect. As well as these secular honours he was elected as a canon of St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne in 1980. In 1991 he was named

and was included in the inaugural list of Australian Living Treasures in 1997. On 21 May 2001, Hollingworth was awarded the Lambeth degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) by

George Carey George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells. During his time as archbishop the Ch ...

, the then

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. He was awarded the doctorate in recognition of his research, publications, teaching and achievements in the fields of Christian social ethics, social welfare and poverty studies and episcopal leadership. In addition to this doctorate he already had six honorary doctorates from Australian universities.

Publications

* * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Report by the Board of Inquiry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollingworth, Peter 1935 births Living people Governors-General of Australia Anglican archbishops of Brisbane Assistant bishops in the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane Australian republicans Companions of the Order of Australia Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Australian of the Year Award winners University of Melbourne alumni People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne People from Adelaide Recipients of the Centenary Medal Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 Religious leaders from Melbourne