Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
The national episcopal conference through which Australia's Catholic bishops coordinate on issues of national importance.
Last updated October 14, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) is the national episcopal conference of the Catholic bishops of Australia. It provides a common institutional framework through which bishops discuss matters affecting the Catholic Church nationally, communicate with the Holy See and Australian governments, coordinate public policy, and issue collective statements on social, ethical, religious and civic questions. It is not a replacement for individual diocesan authority: each bishop retains substantial independence within his or her diocese, while the conference enables coordinated action where issues have national significance. The formation of the conference was approved by the Holy See on 21 June 1966, placing the Australian bishops within the modern system of national episcopal conferences that developed after the Second Vatican Council. Its membership covers bishops from Australia's territorial dioceses and from several other Catholic jurisdictions. The conference represents bishops from 34 dioceses and ordinariates, including 28 territorial dioceses and six additional structures: the Eastern Catholic dioceses serving Chaldean, Maronite, Melkite and Ukrainian Catholics; the Military Ordinariate; and the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, an Anglican ordinariate in communion with the Catholic Church. The ACBC is governed through a president and vice-president elected for two-year terms, a Permanent Committee, bishops' commissions and a General Secretariat. Members normally meet in formal plenary sessions twice each year, traditionally in May and November, while the committee and secretariat continue the conference's work between meetings. Its Public Policy Office prepares analysis and submissions on legal, political, social and bioethical matters and engages with governments and other national institutions. The General Secretariat manages continuing liaison with the Apostolic See, the Commonwealth Government and national bodies. The conference has a visible role in Australian public life. It publishes an annual Social Justice Statement for Social Justice Sunday, accompanied by educational, liturgical and community resources. Topics have included poverty, refugees and asylum seekers, Indigenous justice, family life, environmental responsibility and other questions interpreted through Catholic social teaching. The ACBC has also advocated for Indigenous Australians, including through statements addressing dispossession, colonisation and the need for a just settlement. It supported the 2008 national apology to members of the Stolen Generations while calling for further practical action to improve Indigenous living conditions. In public-policy debates, the ACBC has advocated for expanded refugee settlement, improved treatment of asylum seekers, an end to offshore and mandatory detention, the removal of children from detention and the abolition of temporary protection visas. It has defended the Catholic understanding of marriage and campaigned against changing the legal definition during the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey. It has also argued for statutory protection of religious freedom and for the ability of Catholic schools and institutions to maintain their religious character, while stating that gay people should be assessed for employment on the same basis as others. Following the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the ACBC welcomed the Australian Government's 2018 apology to survivors and published a response to the commission's recommendations. It reported accepting, accepting in principle or supporting 98 percent of the recommendations. The principal stated exception was Recommendation 7.4, concerning the seal of confession, which the conference opposed on grounds of Catholic doctrine and religious liberty. Through these activities, the ACBC functions as a national coordinating and representative body rather than as a commercial enterprise, with influence arising from the size and institutional reach of the Catholic Church in Australia.
History
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference was created within the post-Second Vatican Council development of national episcopal conferences. The Holy See approved its formation on 21 June 1966, giving Australia's Catholic bishops a formal mechanism for national coordination while leaving the governance of individual dioceses with their respective bishops. The conference became the principal national instrument through which the bishops could address matters extending beyond one diocese, communicate collectively with public authorities and maintain structured relations with the Apostolic See. The conference's membership reflects the institutional diversity of Australian Catholicism. It includes bishops from 28 territorial dioceses as well as bishops and leaders connected with Eastern Catholic jurisdictions, the Military Ordinariate and the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross. In total, the conference covers 34 dioceses and ordinariates. Its work is supported by a president, vice-president, Permanent Committee, elected bishops' commissions and a General Secretariat. Plenary meetings are generally held twice a year, with the permanent structures continuing policy, administrative and liaison work between meetings. A major part of the ACBC's public identity has been its engagement with social justice. Since at least the late twentieth century, the bishops have issued national statements on Indigenous affairs, including a 1978 statement on Aboriginal concerns and a 1987 ecumenical message addressing the need for a just and proper settlement in the context of Australia's bicentenary. The 2006 Social Justice Statement, The Heart of Our Country, renewed attention to the dignity and rights of Indigenous Australians, the historical effects of dispossession and the responsibility to seek practical justice. The conference supported the 2008 national apology to the Stolen Generations and continued to advocate improvements in the living conditions and social prospects of Indigenous communities. The annual Social Justice Sunday program developed into one of the conference's recurring national activities. Each year's statement addresses a selected social issue and is accompanied by materials for parishes, schools and community groups, including liturgical notes, prayer resources, educational material and presentation aids. The themes have included poverty, refugees, family life, Indigenous justice and environmental concerns. This activity allows the bishops to translate Catholic social teaching into resources intended for national use across dioceses. The ACBC has also intervened in legislative and policy debates. Its Public Policy Office has prepared submissions on legal, political and bioethical questions, while the conference has maintained positions on refugee policy, asylum-seeker detention, temporary protection visas and the treatment of children in detention. It has supported an increase in Australia's refugee intake and criticized offshore processing and mandatory detention. In 2013 it made a submission to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission concerning regulatory exemptions affecting charitable investment fundraisers, including Catholic fundraising entities. Marriage and religious freedom became especially prominent areas of advocacy in the 2010s. In 2015 the conference published Don't Mess with Marriage, presenting the Catholic case for retaining the traditional legal definition of marriage. During the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, it publicly supported the No campaign. In submissions to the Religious Freedom Review chaired by Philip Ruddock, the conference argued that religious institutions and Catholic schools required legal protection to operate consistently with their religious mission, while also stating that gay people should be assessed for employment on the same basis as anyone else. The conference's response to institutional child sexual abuse forms a critical part of its recent history. It welcomed the Australian Government's 2018 apology to survivors and issued a formal response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The ACBC stated that it accepted, accepted in principle or supported 98 percent of the commission's recommendations. It rejected Recommendation 7.4, which concerned reporting information obtained under the seal of confession, arguing that the recommendation conflicted with Catholic doctrine and religious liberty. The issue illustrated the tension between the conference's national institutional responsibilities, public accountability and the doctrinal autonomy of the Catholic Church. Today the ACBC remains an active national coordinating body. Its influence derives from the scale of the Catholic community, the reach of dioceses and Catholic institutions, and the conference's ability to present collective positions on national questions. It is not a commercial brand or a centralized church administration; rather, it is a representative and coordinating structure whose effectiveness depends on collective agreement among bishops and cooperation through its commissions, policy office and secretariat.
- 2018
Response to the child sexual abuse royal commission
[1]The conference published its response to the Royal Commission's recommendations and identified the confessional-seal recommendation as inconsistent with Catholic teaching and religious liberty.
- 2017
Marriage Law Postal Survey campaign
[1]The ACBC campaigned for a No vote in the national postal survey on changing the legal definition of marriage.
- 2015
Don't Mess with Marriage
[1]The conference published a booklet presenting its case for maintaining the Catholic understanding of marriage in Australian law.
- 2013
Submission on charitable investment fundraisers
[1]The ACBC made a submission to ASIC concerning continuing exemptions affecting charitable investment fundraisers under Australian corporations and fundraising law.
- 2008
Response to the national Indigenous apology
[1]The conference welcomed the apology to members of the Stolen Generations and called for further practical action.
- 2006
The Heart of Our Country
[1]The Social Justice Statement focused on dignity, justice and the continuing consequences of colonisation for Indigenous Australians.
- 1987
Ecumenical message on a just settlement
[1]An ecumenical message addressed Indigenous dispossession and the search for a just and proper settlement before the 1988 bicentenary.
- 1978
Statement on Aboriginal concerns
[1]The bishops issued a major statement addressing the condition and rights of Aboriginal Australians.
- 1966
Holy See approves the conference
[1]The formation of the national episcopal conference for Australia's Catholic bishops was approved by the Holy See on 21 June 1966.
Products and positioning
National coordinating and public-policy body of Australia's Catholic bishops, representing the Catholic Church on issues that require a collective national response while preserving the authority of individual diocesan bishops.
Publications and social teaching
Social Justice Statements
Annual statements issued for Social Justice Sunday that apply Catholic social teaching to a selected Australian social issue. They are commonly accompanied by parish, school and community materials such as prayer cards, liturgy notes, educational resources and presentation material. Past subjects have included Indigenous justice, poverty, refugees, family life and care for the environment.
Policy and advocacy
Public Policy Office submissions
Policy analysis and formal submissions prepared for governments, regulators and other national bodies. The work covers legal and political questions, bioethics, religious freedom, refugee policy, charitable fundraising regulation and other issues on which the bishops seek to present a national Catholic perspective.
National coordination
General Secretariat services
Administrative, communications and liaison functions that support the conference between bishops' meetings. The secretariat helps maintain relationships with the Apostolic See, the Commonwealth Government and national organizations, and supports the Permanent Committee and bishops' commissions.
Controversies
2018
Response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
The conference's response to the royal commission followed the national reckoning over institutional child sexual abuse. It stated that 98 percent of recommendations were accepted, accepted in principle or supported, while rejecting Recommendation 7.4 on reporting information learned under the seal of confession.
Marketing campaigns
- 2017Vote No marriage-law campaign
Australia
During the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, the ACBC urged voters to reject changing the legal definition of marriage, arguing that marriage should remain a relationship between a woman and a man.
- 2015Don't Mess with Marriage
Australia
The conference published a booklet defending the Catholic understanding of marriage and opposing changes to the legal definition of marriage.
Outcome. The publication became part of the conference's wider advocacy during the later national marriage-law debate.
- 2008Indigenous apology and justice advocacy
Australia
The ACBC supported the Australian Government's apology to members of the Stolen Generations and used the occasion to emphasize that symbolic recognition needed to be accompanied by practical improvements for Indigenous Australians.
Outcome. The apology took place in 2008; the conference continued to call for practical action.
- Refugee and asylum-seeker advocacy
Australia
The conference has repeatedly advocated better treatment of asylum seekers, a larger refugee intake, an end to offshore and mandatory detention, the removal of children from detention and the abolition of temporary protection visas.
Brand decisions
2018
Position on Royal Commission Recommendation 7.4OtherBackground
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended measures concerning information obtained during confession. The issue required the conference to balance institutional response to abuse findings with Catholic sacramental practice.
Action taken
The ACBC accepted, accepted in principle or supported most recommendations but did not accept Recommendation 7.4, stating that it conflicted with the seal of confession and religious liberty.
Aftermath
The position became a prominent point of public debate about mandatory reporting, religious practice and the accountability of Catholic institutions.
2017
National opposition to changing the legal definition of marriageStrategyBackground
The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey asked the public whether the legal definition of marriage should be changed to include same-sex couples.
Action taken
The conference publicly supported the No position and distributed arguments based on the Catholic understanding of marriage.
Aftermath
The campaign formed part of the wider national debate preceding the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia.
Recent events
- 2018
ACBC submits views to the Religious Freedom Review[1]
Regulation · Other
The conference called for legal protections for religious organizations and Catholic schools, including the ability to preserve their religious character in staffing and education.
- 2017
ACBC participates in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey debate[1]
Campaign · Other
The conference campaigned for a No vote in the postal survey on same-sex marriage, arguing for retention of marriage as a relationship between a woman and a man.
- 2008
ACBC advocates for an apology to Indigenous Australians[1]
Other
The conference supported the national apology to members of the Stolen Generations and described it as a significant moment while calling for further practical improvements for Indigenous Australians.
- 1966
ACBC formation approved by the Holy See[1]
Other
The Holy See approved the formation of the national conference for Australia's Catholic bishops on 21 June 1966.
Sources2 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/australian-catholic-bishops-conference · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled