In December 2021, the Episcopal Standards Board of the Anglican Church of Australia (the Board) was satisfied that Bishop Roger Herft, the former Bishop of Newcastle between 1993 and 2005, was unfit to remain in holy orders and determined that he be deposed from the exercise of holy orders (the Board Determination). This decision is significant because it is the first occasion in the Anglican Communion on which a senior church leader has had the most severe sanction of deposition from the exercise of holy orders imposed for their inaction in response to allegations of abuse. The context for this decision has been one of allegations of abuse made against church leaders and the concealment of these allegations by senior church leaders in contravention of the statutory requirement to report the allegations to government authorities. There has also been the public scrutiny through government inquiries of the response of churches and their leaders to child abuse.

2021 年 12 月，澳大利亚圣公会圣公会标准委员会（委员会）对 1993 年至 2005 年期间的纽卡斯尔前主教罗杰·赫尔夫特主教不适合继续担任圣骑士团感到满意，并决定将他从行使神圣命令（董事会决议）。这一决定意义重大，因为这是英国圣公会第一次高级教会领袖因对虐待指控不作为而执行圣令而受到最严厉的处分。这一决定的背景是对教会领袖的虐待指控之一，以及高级教会领袖违反向政府当局报告这些指控的法定要求隐瞒这些指控。