Patrick Comben AO, a former minister in the Goss Labor Government in Queensland, and later registrar of the Anglican Diocese of Grafton, has been deposed from holy orders after a lengthy investigation, a hearing by that diocese’s Professional Standards Board, and a further review.
In relation to five separate matters, Comben failed to fulfil his duties as Registrar and General Manager to handle allegations of abuse. In accepting the Board’s recommendation, the Bishop of Grafton, Dr Murray Harvey, said: “The Diocese of Grafton is especially mindful of the survivors of historical abuse who brought these matters to our attention, and who have waited a long time for this to be resolved.”
The Board found that Comben:
• did nothing to hold accountable those – including members of the clergy – facing serious allegations of sexual and other abuse of children;
• failed to ensure complaints were properly investigated, undermining protections for vulnerable people, including children, and damaging the Church’s own standing; and
• showed no regard for the harm done to claimants, their ongoing welfare, or the further damage his inaction caused to the reputation of the Diocese and the wider Church.
Media reports indicate that Comben had left holy orders before. In 2013, The Guardian reported that during the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse, in “In a surprise revelation at Monday’s hearing into how the Anglican church dealt with victims of abuse at a children’s home in Lismore, the former registrar of the Grafton diocese Pat Comben said he had relinquished holy orders.” In 2015 the guardian reported that Comben had been stripped of
One matter involving the North Coast Children’s Home formed case study three of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The commission’s report details the attempt by a group of complainants to receive compensation from the diocese. “We heard evidence of frequent sexual, psychological and physical abuse at the Home between 1940 to 1985. Former residents, Tommy Campion, CA, CB, CD, CH, CK, CN and two others, told us they were sexually abused by clergy, staff or other residents while living at the Home…
“Mr Campion first wrote to the dioceses of Sydney and Grafton in 2005 about the abuse he had suffered at the Home. Reverend Patrick Comben, then Registrar of the Diocese of Grafton, offered him counselling and sent him a copy of the Pastoral Care and Assistance Scheme. Mr Campion understood that he and his sister, CA, could each receive $70,000 or $80,000. He did not accept this payout because he first wanted to join other former residents in a group claim.” The payments actually recieved by any of the group were vastly lower.
In 2006, over 40 former residents of the Home, led by Mr Campion, began the group claim against the Diocese of Grafton. The Diocese then responded that the clergy in fact did not run the Home. The Diocese denied it was legally liable for abuse at the Home.
Tommy Campion posted yesterday “Even though Comben admitted to have taken a hard line approach to victims, telling the commission in 2013 that he felt guilt over his actions, the church refused to take action to have him dismissed. I had to do that. All that has taken me 20 years. What a disgrace…
“Because I hounded the church, Comben was defrocked in 2015, but because of a glitch in the system in 2017, he was reinstated and it was myself, not the church, who had to act again to push the Anglican Church to do so again.
“It has taken an immense amount of personal courage, resilience, and unyielding persistence for me to spend two decades fighting institutional inertia, especially when the entities involved seem more focused on self-preservation and protecting assets than protecting human lives.”
Counsel Assisting Simeon Beckett told the Commission, “The diocese, through its registrar, Reverend Pat Comben, indicated to the media that the claimants had substantial hurdles to overcome. He also questioned the factual basis for some of the claims and said that the home was a great North Coast community. facility…
Several findings by the Royal Commission were critical of then Bishop Keith Slater. Bishop Slater resigned as Bishop of Grafton on 17 May 2013. He issued a media statement apologising for not giving abuse claimants access to the Professional Standards Director. In September 2013, the Diocese published an apology in several newspapers for the abuse at the Home and its handling of subsequent claims.
The Diocesan media release:
Bishop Malcolm Harvey’s notice of decision: https://www.graftondiocese.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Notice-of-Decision.pdf
Image: Pat Comben Image Credit: aglasshalf-full.com