The Anglican Church has appointed its first female Archbishop, the Right Reverend Kay Goldsworthy AO, to lead the West Australian division.

The Archbishop-elect became the first female Anglican bishop in Australia in 2008, when she was appointed assistant bishop of Perth.

Currently working as the Bishop of Gippsland, in Victoria, Bishop Goldsworthy will return to WA to take up her new position next year.

Formerly a chaplain of Perth Anglican girls’ school, Perth College, Bishop Goldsworthy was ordained a deacon in 1986 and joined the priesthood in 1992.

Her appointment follows an eight-month selection process by the Church, following the departure of former archbishop Roger Herft in December.

Reverend Herft stood down after giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, saying he had badly “let down” survivors in the Diocese of Newcastle, where he served between 1993 and 2005.

In February, Bishop Goldsworthy, who is married and has twin adult sons, will be installed as the eighth Archbishop of Perth at St George’s Cathedral.

-ABC