Geoffrey Sambell and the
Rise of Anglican Social Welfare
The Revd Chris Thomason Chaplain
Archbishop Geoffrey Sambell arrived in Perth in 1969 as the first Australian-born Anglican Archbishop of the Diocese, bringing with him a reputation for administrative brilliance and a fierce dedication to social justice.
Having spent decades in Melbourne working with the Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Mission of St James and St John, Sambell was determined to transform the Church in the West into a ‘welfare-orientated institution’ that remained true to its spiritual foundations.
In June 1972, Sambell produced a paper titled ‘The Church and its place in health and welfare services’, setting out a vision for a professionalised, integrated welfare arm. This vision culminated in the 1976 establishment of the Anglican Health and Welfare Services (AHWS). Sambell’s model was revolutionary for the time; he sought a holistic approach that combined faith and revitalisation with community service.
The organisation he founded would eventually become Anglicare WA. The transition to the ‘Anglicare’ name originated from a simple practical necessity in 1987, when the receptionist at the West Perth office grew tired of reciting the full title, Anglican Health and Welfare Services, each time she answered the phone. Staff members gathered and coined the simpler name that is now used nationwide.
Toward the end of his life, Sambell saw the construction of a new headquarters on the site of St Mary’s, West Perth, which was spontaneously renamed the ‘Sambell Centre’ in his honour, after his death in 1980. Anglicare WA’s current East Pert office has retained the ‘Sambell Centre’ name.
One of the most significant evolutions in Sambell’s thinking was his approach to Aboriginal people. Initially, like many of his era, he had equated Aboriginal welfare with missions, but his time in Western Australia led to an understanding that Aboriginal people needed something different. Sambell became a vocal proponent for Aboriginal land rights, advocating for corporate ownership of existing reserves and the protection of sacred sites. Sambell’s support for Aboriginal people was not merely theoretical; he was willing to defy convention and the law to stand by them. On 18 August 1977, the Archbishop stood in the Midland Court to answer charges related to allowing a group of ‘fringe-dwellers’ to take refuge on church grounds. The group had been forced from their camp by flooding, and the church had provided them with tents, food, and the use of facilities at St Matthew’s in Guildford. After pleading guilty, during a plea in mitigation, Sambell said, ‘We broke the law to preserve the peace’, arguing that his decision was made to prevent the violence that would have occurred if police had been called in.
On the same day Perth experienced an earthquake providing the cartoonist at the Sunday Times an opportunity that couldn’t be missed. The cartoon depicts the Archbishop paying the fine while the earth shakes, with the tag, ‘If you insist on fining archbishops what do you expect’.
Sambell’s experience led to the AHWS opening a night shelter for Aboriginal people managed by Aboriginal staff.Sambell was an authoritative strategist who pushed the Church to engage with the most difficult and rejected members of society. Despite his reputation as a powerful administrator, his driving force was a deep pastoral concern. His legacy remains embedded in Anglicare WA and the continued Anglican commitment to social service.
Anglicare WA turns 50 this year and Archbishop Sambell’s legacy lives on in our vision and purpose.
Sources:
Becoming Anglicare Australia – A History in Overview by Peter Burke
Biography of Geoffrey Tremayne Sambell 1914 – 1980 by Anne Porter
Sambell: A Man of the Word by Michael B Challen
