[7] On 1 September 1959, the Metropolis of Australia and New Zealand was elevated to an archdiocese and Metropolitan Ezekiel to an archbishop.

Archbishop Ezekiel's episcopacy coincided with a period of great expansion in the numbers of Greek Orthodox in Australia through immigration, and many of the parishes that the church has today were formed under his guidance.

In August 1974, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate elevated Archbishop Ezekiel to the titular see of Metropolitan of Pisidia.

On 3 February 1975, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate unanimously elected the Metropolitan of Miletoupolis, Stylianos Harkianakis, a lecturer at the University of Thessaloniki, as the new Archbishop of Australia.

On this visit, a Patriarchal Divine Liturgy occurred at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on Sunday November 24.