Priest dies before child abuse court date

An elderly, former Anglican priest has died just weeks before he was due to face court in NSW on child sex abuse charges.

George Parker, 79, had been unwell and living in a healthcare facility in Ballarat in Victoria months before his death.

He died earlier in the week and was listed to appear in the Newcastle Local Court on February 2.

NSW police went to Ballarat and charged him with child sex offences days before Christmas.

Some of the charges had been reinstated from a previous, discontinued prosecution, News Corp reports.

Fr Parker was already working in Ballarat when Bishop Garry Weatherill came to the diocese.

Bishop Weatherill only found out about the allegations against Fr Parker when he was contacted by the assistant Bishop of Newcastle.

"I had nothing about him in the files and I knew nothing about the story," he told Ballalrat's 3BA radio in August 2016.

"So I immediately rang the priest and called him in and stood him down immediately until I had an opportunity to further explore the allegations being made."

While suspended, Fr Parker's licence to practise as a priest came up for renewal, which Bishop Weatherill declined.

"He doesn't operate at all as a priest now," Bishop Weatherill told 3BA.

He also said the elderly man was "currently very unwell and in a healthcare facility".

Fr Parker will be cremated at a private ceremony in Ballarat on January 17, a funeral notice says.