Philip Freier

Philip Leslie Freier (born 9 February 1955) is an Australian Anglican bishop. He was the 13th Archbishop of Melbourne from 2006 until his retirement in 2025. He served as Primate of Australia from 28 June 2014^[1] until 31 March 2020.^[2] Previously, he served as Bishop of the Northern Territory between 1999 and 2006.

The Most Reverend Philip Freier
Primate of Australia Archbishop of Melbourne
Freier in 2019
Church	Anglican Church of Australia
Province	Victoria
Diocese	Melbourne
In office	2014–2020 (as primate) 2006–2025 (as archbishop)
Predecessor	Phillip Aspinall (as primate) Peter Watson (as archbishop)
Successor	Geoffrey Smith (as primate)
Previous post(s)	Bishop of the Northern Territory (1999–2006)
Orders
Ordination	1982
Consecration	1999 (bishop)
Rank	2006 (archbishop)
Personal details
Born	Philip Leslie Freier (1955-02-09) 9 February 1955 (age 70) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Denomination	Anglicanism
Spouse	Joy née Launder
Alma mater	Queensland Institute of Technology University of Queensland Melbourne College of Divinity University of Newcastle James Cook University

Insignia of ChStJ

Early life, education and work

Freier was born in Brisbane where he attended Hendra State High School and was raised in the Roman Catholic Church.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to a PhD from James Cook University, he has received the degrees of Master of Educational Studies from the University of Newcastle, Bachelor of Divinity from the Melbourne College of Divinity, Diploma of Education from the University of Queensland and Bachelor of Applied Science from the Queensland Institute of Technology.^{[citation needed]}

Freier was elected a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors in 1995.^[3] He worked as a science teacher for six years prior to being ordained.^{[citation needed]}

Ministry

After his ordination in 1982, Freier was a curate in Kowanyama, Queensland, followed by five years as the rector of St Oswald's Banyo, before being appointed the rector of Christ Church Bundaberg. During his time in Kowanyama he studied and became a fluent speaker of one of the local indigenous languages, the Koko-Bera language and is now one of only approximately 50 speakers of this endangered tongue.^{[citation needed]}

In 1999, Freier was elected as the Bishop of the Northern Territory and consecrated a bishop on 22 July at St John's Cathedral (Brisbane).^[4] As a supporter of the indigenous Australian communities he pledged to support the Stolen Generations during their healing process.^[5] In April 2014, he wrote an opinion piece in Fairfax Media newspapers criticising the Australian government's "Operation Sovereign Borders" policy which places children in immigration detention, arguing that "churches cannot be silent" and must care for "the alien, orphan and widow".^[6][7] Freier has criticised large corporate banks in Australia, arguing that wealth creation should not be "separated from moral and social responsibility" and criticised the Abbott government for "privileging the financial interest of corporations".^[8][9][10]

Freier has served as a chaplain to the Royal Australian Air Force Reserve since 2001.^[11]

Freier was elected as Anglican Primate of Australia on 28 June 2014, defeating Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies.^[12] He was installed as Primate by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne on 13 August 2014.^[1] Freier resigned as Primate effective 31 March 2020^[2] and was replaced by Geoffrey Smith as Primate on 7 April 2020 after the Committee of the Anglican Church's General Synod elected him as Freier's successor.^[13]

Freier retired as archbishop on 9 February 2025, his 70th birthday.^[14]

Personal life

During his episcopacy, Freier and his wife, Joy, lived at "Bishopscourt", East Melbourne. They have two children and three grandchildren.^[1][15] He includes bush-walking, reading and the visual arts among his recreational pursuits.^[16]

Honours

• - Chaplain, Most Venerable Order of Saint John (ChStJ)

Styles of Philip Freier
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Grace
Religious style	Archbishop

See also

• St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne
• Who's Who in Australia