A decision on whether or not to charge Cardinal George Pell over historical child sexual assault allegations "is not far off" but police are still working their way through a complex dossier of information, Victoria's police chief says.
Detectives are reviewing final advice from the state's Director of Public Prosecutions about the allegations, which Cardinal Pell has repeatedly denied.
Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said last week a decision was imminent, but told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday is was "fairly imminent".
"These allegations are complex and there's a lot in it in terms of the inquiries that have been made, the work that's been done and the legal advice," Mr Ashton said.
"I'm not going to comment on this particular case, but I'll make the overall statement that you can often get different views around investigations and it's not always the case of total agreement or total dissent."
Mr Ashton said the DPP advice is still being reviewed by the lead detective and officer in charge of the Sano task force, which investigates allegations arising from a Victorian parliamentary inquiry and the royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse.
"They're working their way back through that final advice now so activity on it is not far off one way or another," Mr Ashton said.
Cardinal Pell, the Vatican's finance chief, last week maintained he is innocent of the allegations and said he will continue to co-operate fully with the investigation.
He professed his innocence in a statement in Rome on Thursday.
“I repeat that I’m not guilty of any crime, I have cooperated fully from the beginning, and I’ll continue to cooperate fully,” he said.
The reporter then asked how he was feeling, which he replied “I’m hanging in”.
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