Diocese of Riverina

The Diocese of Riverina is one of 23 dioceses that make the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese covers 37% of New South Wales, including the Riverina and the Far West of the State. The main population centres within the Diocese of Riverina are Griffith, Broken Hill, Deniliquin, Leeton, Narrandera and Corowa.

The Diocese of Riverina was established in 1884 when the Anglican diocese of Goulburn was divided.

Bishop Hector Gordon Robinson
(1951-1965) In 1953 he transferred the administrative centre of the diocese to Narrandera, with accommodation for the bishop and registry. Hay, however, remained the site of the pro-Cathedral of the Diocese.

Bishop John Basil Rowland Grindrod
(1966-1971) Bishop Grindrod, an Englishman, came to Riverina via Queensland. He travelled widely to the remote parts of the Diocese (in a small VW beetle) and was a keen bird-spotter. He later became Bishop of Rockhampton, Archbishop of Brisbane and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia. Archbishop Sir John Grindrod died in January 2009.

Bishop Barry Hunter
(1972-1992) Bishop Hunter was a keen poet and the first and only pilot-bishop of the Diocese, flying a Cessna across the Diocese for many years. He keenly developed strategies to help lesson the sense of isolation of parishes and clergy. During the centenary year of the Diocese, the church of St Alban in Griffith was designated the Cathedral. In 1992 St Martin's College was established as an Anglican residential college at Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga by the Dioceses of Riverina and Canberra-Goulburn.

Bishop Bruce Quentin Clark
(1993-2004) Bishop Clarke served the wider church as chairperson of the Provincial Education Committee. During his episcopacy the financial base of the Diocese was strengthened by the establishment of the Riverina Anglican Foundation and the receipt of the Faulks bequest.

Current diocesan bishop
The current bishop is the Right Reverend Doctor Douglas Stevens. He was consecrated and enthroned as the ninth bishop of the diocese on 29 November 2005 at the Cathedral Church of St Alban the Martyr, Griffith. He formerly served in the Dioceses of Newcastle and Grafton, in the parishes of Toronto, Merriwa, Newcastle Cathedral, Bolton Point, Wingham, Nambucca Heads and Tweed Heads. Bishop Stevens is married to Denise (née Hull) and they have two daughters Aisling and Erin.

Bishop Stevens serves the wider church as Anglican Co-Chair of AUSTARC (the Australian Anglican and Roman Catholic dialogue group) and the NSW Provincial Education Commission.