Pope must sack archbishop convicted of covering up child sexual abuse, Australian prime minister says

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Australia's prime minister has called on Pope Francis to fire a Catholic archbishop found guilty of covering up child sexual abuse.

Malcolm Turnbull said Adelaide archbishop Philip Wilson, the most senior Catholic cleric ever convicted of the crime, should not be allowed to remain in post while appealing his conviction.

Wilson was convicted in May of failing to report to police the repeated abuse of two altar boys by a paedophile priest in Sydney during the 1970s.

"He should have resigned and the time has come for the pope to sack him," Mr Turnbull told reporters.

"There are many leaders that have called on him to resign, it's clear that he should resign and I think the time has come now for the ultimate authority in the church to take action and sack him," he added.

Wilson has said he would only offer his resignation to Pope Francis if his appeal fails in the New South Wales state District Court.

"I am conscious of calls for me to resign and have taken them very seriously," Wilson said in a statement this month.

"However, at this time, I am entitled to exercise my legal rights and to follow the due process of law. Since that process is not yet complete, I do not intend to resign at this time," he added.

Wilson was sentenced in a Newcastle court to 12 months in detention.

He remains free on bail and will return to court next month to find out whether he will serve his sentence in prison or at his sister's house in home detention. He must serve a minimum of six months before becoming eligible for parole.

Wilson stood down from his position as archbishop days after he was convicted.

New South Wales police minister Troy Grant, who was a police detective in the 1990s when he uncovered widespread church child molesting in the Hunter Valley, has condemned the Vatican's support of Wilson.

"I'm... disappointed that the response from the Roman Catholic Church in their future plans for this offender nowhere meets community standards or expectations," Mr Grant said two weeks ago.

The federal government has initiated a redress scheme involving churches and other nongovernment organisations to pay billions of dollars in compensation to victims of child sex abuse in Australian institutions.

Wilson was once Australia's highest-ranking archbishop as president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

Additional reporting by AP.