Mark Short (born 1966) is an Australian bishop in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. In 2016, responding to a peer-reviewed study ...

. He has served as the 11th bishop of the

Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn The Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn is one of the 23 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese has 60 parishes covering most of south-east New South Wales, the eastern Riverina and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It st ...

since April 2019 and in July 2025 became primate-elect of the Anglican Church of Australia.

Early life and parish ministry

Prior to becoming a priest, Short worked as a Graduate Economist for the Department of Industrial Relations and as a journalist for the

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

. In 1996 he was ordained as deacon and in 1997 as priest, both in St Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn. He served in the parish of Temora before moving to the United Kingdom to undertake a PhD at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

on "the Passover as collective memory". Upon his return to Australia, between 2002 and 2011, Short served as Rector of the parishes of

Turvey Park Turvey Park is an inner southern suburb of Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, Australia. Its boundaries are defined by Fernleigh Road to the south, Glenfield Road to the west, Coleman Street to the north and to the east by Willans Hill. Tur ...

and

Tarcutta Tarcutta is a town in south-western New South Wales, Australia. The town is south-west of Sydney, east of the Hume Highway, It was proclaimed as a village on 28 October 1890. As of 2016, the town had a population of 446. It serves a local farm ...

, during which he was appointed Vocations Director Archdeacon for the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn in 2007, followed by the Archdeacon of Wagga Wagga in 2009. In 2011, Short became the National Director of the Bush Church Aid Society, a position which he held until his election as bishop.

Episcopal ministry

On 10 November 2018, Short was elected as bishop of the Canberra and Goulburn Diocese after a vote (where Short was one of five candidates) of 124 clergy and 175 lay representatives, succeeding Stuart Robinson. Short was consecrated bishop and enthroned as Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn in St Saviour's Cathedral on 6 April 2019 by Archbishop of Sydney

Glenn Davies Glenn Naunton Davies (born 1950) is an Australian Anglican bishop. Since August 2022 he has served as bishop of the Diocese of the Southern Cross, an Anglican diocese set up outside of the Anglican Church of Australia. He previously served as ...

. As bishop, Short has called on Christians to engage with their neighbourhoods and communities rather than retreating from them. Short was one of several bishops who sent pastoral letters to parishes affected by the

2019–20 Australian bushfire season The 201920 Australian bushfire season commenced with serious uncontrolled fires in June 2019. , fires this season have burned an estimated , destroyed over 5,900 buildings (including 2,779 homes) and killed at least 34 people. An estimated o ...

which heavily affected the diocese, expressing his shared grief. In July 2025, Short was elected primate of the Anglican Church of Australia. He is scheduled to succeed Geoffrey Smith in the role on 1 November. Short will be the first-ever non-

metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...

to serve as primate and the first

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

to hold the post since

Marcus Loane Sir Marcus Lawrence Loane (14 October 191114 April 2009) was an Australian Anglican bishop. He was the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney from 1966 to 1982 and Primate of Australia from 1977 to 1982. He was the first Australian-born Archbishop of Syd ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

retired in 1982.

Personal life

Short is married to Monica, a lecturer in social work, and has two sons, Matthew and Andrew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Short, Mark Anglican bishops of Canberra and Goulburn 21st-century Anglican bishops in Australia Living people 1966 births Date of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Durham University Moore Theological College alumni