A persistent culture of independence within Anglican dioceses is delaying a long-awaited misconduct regime that would deal with allegations of child sexual abuse, a royal commission has heard.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse on Tuesday heard there still isn't a consistent national approach to professional standards 13 years after the church's General Synod enacted a model ordinance on the issue in 2004.
Data released at the start of the hearing revealed 82 people who made complaints to the church were first abused as children between 2000 and 2015.
Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald on Tuesday said it was "almost inexplicable" to outsiders that the church had not put aside "relatively minor differences" to arrive at a common approach to professional standards.
"Diocesan autonomy is something which each diocese very much values, seeks to retain," Professional Standards Commission member Audrey Mills replied.
"That has been a real barrier in this area."
Professional Standards Commission chair Garth Blake SC said he was "deeply" troubled by the professional standards "tinkering" so long after the ordinance, and best practice policies have not been picked up by all dioceses.
"That's a matter of profound disappointment to me," he said.
"The fact that this fragmentation has led to ... different standards of care around what should be core standards."
The royal commission heard dioceses' professional standards varied in numerous areas, including on what constituted misconduct and whether there was a right to appeal.
It also heard the Melbourne diocese was promoting a "corporate" model, which would allow a body independent of any individual diocese to deal with complaints, refer issues of fitness and administer redress policies.
Melbourne diocese chancellor Michael Shand QC said the corporate model would also make it easier for the dioceses to share information.
"We would see this (corporate approach) winning back the confidence and trust of the community," he said.
"The way we would do that is to committing to a common process through this common body that could operate nationally."
Data released on the first day of the hearing revealed 22 Anglican dioceses received 1115 reported complaints of child sexual abuse between 1980 and 2015.
The hearing, which is in part investigating how Anglican authorities have responded to the work of the royal commission, continues.
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