Roger Adrian Herft was born on 11 July 1948 and is a former bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia.
26 Facts About Roger Herft
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Roger Herft was the Archbishop of Perth from 2005 to 2017.
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Roger Herft was previously the Bishop of Newcastle from 1993 to 2005 and the Bishop of Waikato in New Zealand from 1986.
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Roger Herft was born in Wattegama in what is Sri Lanka.
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Roger Herft studied at the Royal College in Colombo, later training for the ministry at the Theological College of Sri Lanka in Pilimatalawa.
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Roger Herft received Bachelor of Theology and Bachelor of Divinity degrees from the University of Serampore.
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In 1986, Roger Herft was elected Bishop of Waikato, becoming one of the youngest bishops in the Anglican Communion; he was consecrated bishop on 28 October 1986.
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Roger Herft was elected Bishop of Newcastle, New South Wales, in 1992 and enthroned at Christ Church Cathedral in May 1993.
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Roger Herft was chaplain of the 13th Lambeth Conference in 1998.
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In 2004, Roger Herft was elected as the seventh Archbishop of Perth and Metropolitan of the Province of Western Australia and was installed on 11 June 2005, succeeding Peter Carnley.
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Roger Herft nominated Kay Goldsworthy as Australia's first female Anglican bishop and consecrated her at St George's Cathedral in Perth on 22 May 2008.
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Roger Herft was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2013 for service to the church, particularly interfaith relations and social justice.
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Roger Herft said that allegations would not have been followed up unless there was a formal written complaint.
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Roger Herft agreed with the commission that this was "Totally unacceptable" as it left children at risk.
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The commission heard evidence that Roger Herft had been informed of allegations against Graeme Lawrence who had been dean of Newcastle Cathedral.
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On 10 October 2016, Roger Herft wrote a pastoral letter stating that he was standing down as archbishop to "focus my attention on the royal commission's ongoing inquiry into the Diocese of Newcastle".
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Roger Herft said in the Royal Commission that he had "let down the people of Newcastle" and "let down the survivors in a way that remorse itself is a very poor emotion to express".
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Former Premier Richard Court, chair of the Perth Diocesan Trustees, said that Roger Herft "enjoyed the full support and respect of the Trustees of the Diocese of Perth".
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On 15 December 2016, the Diocese of Perth announced that Roger Herft would retire on 7 July 2017 and remain on accrued leave until that date.
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Roger Herft thanked the royal commission for holding him "personally accountable" during the hearing.
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Roger Herft stated that he had developed a "much more realistic view" of the priesthood and hoped first-hand accounts from survivors would lead to widespread change within the Anglican Church.
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On 10 January 2017 an article in The Australian stated that in 1996 the Bishop of Ballarat at the time, David Silk, had employed a priest who had transferred from Newcastle where Roger Herft was bishop at the time.
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Silk said that Roger Herft had not advised him of the allegations.
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The Board determined that Roger Herft had failed to properly address claims made against these priests, that he was unfit to remain in Holy Orders and should be defrocked.
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Roger Herft was removed from Holy Orders by Philip Freier on 1 February 2022.
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Roger Herft is married to Cheryl and they have two adult sons.