But in the Sydney diocese the sex of the person is of less significance than the matter of headship in the church and the preaching and teaching which is central to Evangelical ministry.
The reason for Sydney's strong opposition towards the ordination of women to the presbyterate is based partly upon their interpretation of the teachings of the Apostle Paul in respect to the understanding of the Greek word kephale (κεφαλη) mentioned in Ephesians 5:23, interpreting Paul's guidance about women teaching in Ephesus given in 1 Timothy 2:12 as permanent and for all the church, and inferring gender roles from 1 Corinthians 11.
[5] Women who are ordained as priests outside the diocese, such as Susanna Pain who returned to Sydney to take up the position of assistant at St James' King Street, are acknowledged by the diocese as deacons rather than priests and the female Archbishop of Perth, although allowed to preach in a Sydney church, is not allowed to wear her archbishop's robes and mitre or preside at the Eucharist.
[6][7] In 1992 a then member of the standing committee of the diocesan synod, Laurie Scandrett, joined with Dalba Primmer (the then rector of St John's Bega in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn) and David Robarts (then the incumbent of Christ Church, Brunswick, in the Diocese of Melbourne) in a court action (Scandrett v Dowling (1992) 27 NSWLR 483) to prevent the Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn from ordaining women as presbyters.
[citation needed] However, a number of prominent Sydney Anglicans who are supportive of the ordination of women have ministered or are currently ministering in Melbourne — for example Peter Watson (Archbishop of Melbourne, 2000–2006),[10] Stephen Hale, Bishop of the Eastern Region and Dianne Nicolios, former Archdeacon for Women's Ministries.