Former governor-general of Australia and retired Anglican bishop Peter Hollingworth has died in Melbourne at the age of 91.

Dr Hollingworth, who was born in Adelaide in 1935 and raised in Melbourne, passed away on Tuesday morning, with his death confirmed by Archbishop of Brisbane Jeremy Greaves.

In a statement, he said the Church sent “its condolences to his family”.

“Bishop Hollingworth served as the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane for 11 years from 1990 and was a vocal advocate for the poor and underprivileged,” he said.

Ordained as an Anglican priest in 1960 after studying theology, Hollingworth went on to become one of Australia’s most prominent church figures and social welfare advocates.

He joined the Brotherhood of St Laurence in 1964, where he would spend 25 years working in welfare and eventually rise to executive director. During this time, he built a national reputation as a passionate critic of social policy, arguing that poverty should be understood as a structural issue rather than an individual failing.

At one point described as “Australia’s foremost spokesman for social justice”, Hollingworth became a public voice on inequality, welfare reform and disadvantage.

His career was not without controversy. In 1984, he publicly clashed with then–prime minister Bob Hawke after publishing an open letter criticising the federal government’s approach to child poverty.

Despite the tensions, his contributions to social welfare were formally recognised. He was named Australian of the Year in 1991 and received both an Order of the British Empire and an Order of Australia for services to the community sector.

Hollingworth’s rise within the Anglican Church continued when he was appointed Archbishop of Brisbane in 1989, a role overseeing 100 parishes. He used his position to advocate for issues including Indigenous rights, youth unemployment and the ordination of women.

In 2001, after 11 years leading the Brisbane diocese, he was appointed Australia’s 23rd governor-general by then–prime minister John Howard. He was the first and only cleric ever to hold the vice-regal office.

In 1989, he was elected the eighth Archbishop of Brisbane before being appointed the 23rd governor-general of Australia in 2001.

However, an Anglican Church inquiry later found he failed to remove pedophile priests Donald Shearman and John Elliot from the ministry in Brisbane in the 1990s, despite knowing they had sexually abused children.

In May 2003, Dr Hollingworth quit due to the “continuing public controversy” on his ability to “uphold the importance, dignity and integrity” of his position.

In 2016, he testified at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and told a victim-survivor he was “extremely sorry that the church and I failed to protect you”.

The commission ultimately found Dr Hollingworth made a “serious error of judgment” in allowing John Elliot, who admitted abusing two boys, to remain in the ministry.

Dr Hollingworth accepted the findings and apologised.

The Most Reverend Greaves also acknowledged Dr Hollingworth’s controversies in his statement, saying the Church acknowledged “with deep regret the past failings” of the Church.

“Anglican Church of Southern Queensland apologises unreservedly to those who have suffered abuse, distress, isolation and harm caused by the Church’s failure to respond with integrity and care when it was needed most,” he said.

In 2023, Dr Hollingworth stopped practising as an Anglican priest.

He is survived by his three daughters — Deborah, Fiona and Sarah — and four grandchildren.

His wife Ann died in April 2021.

- with Newswire