A former employee of the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn has been arrested on child abuse charges.

The charges related to offences alleged to have occurred when the 79-year-old held an administrative position with the archdiocese in 1989.

“Police will allege the male offender was performing an administrative role within the archdiocese at the time he met the victim who was then aged 15,” NSW Police said in a statement on Friday.

“The offences are alleged to have occurred in 1989 during a ‘work related’ trip to Batemans Bay and Huskisson.”

The 79-year-old was arrested in the Brisbane suburb of Mitchelton on Tuesday and charged with five counts of gross indecency with an underage male.

The archdiocese referred the complaint to police in 2017 and promised to cooperate with the investigation.

“The charges are of a very serious nature and the matter is with NSW Police,” the archdiocese said in a statement on Friday.

“These allegations will now be considered by a court. It would be inappropriate for the Archdiocese to make further comment until the judicial process had been concluded.”

The man is due to appear before the Queanbeyan Local Court on April 23.

-AAP