A priest in a parish is known as a Diocesan Priest. He is answerable to the Bishop of his region and works in cooperation with his pastoral vision.

Diocesan Priests live in the general community and have pastoral oversight in a particular region. They are sometimes called "Secular Priests" because they are people living in the general community. Religious priests, by contrast, live as members of a particular religious community, under a particular rule of life and spirituality. They often have specific ministries or "charisms" such as in the field of teaching, hospitals or working with the poor etc. To put it simply (and to borrow concepts and terms from the medical profession), Diocesan Priests are like General Practitioners and Religious Priests, Brothers and Sisters are like the Specialists in certain areas. Priests and Brothers and Sisters who are members of religious orders  make three vows: Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Diocesan priests make two major promises to their Bishop: they promise Loyalty to their Bishop and his successors, and Celibacy. They do not make a promise of poverty, but they have an option for the poor. 

Since Diocesan Priests (that's us!) are individuals living in the community, they are perfectly able to own things in their own right. Naturally, a priest is expected to have an option for the poor so that it would not be appropriate if he showed a strong attachment to material things and spent money on outrageous luxuries and non-necessities. For the most part, this is left up to the priest to make a mature decision about his needs and his possessions.

Priests in parishes receive free Board and food. They are expected to pay for their own clothes and pay off their own car (although the parish pays them a car replacement allowance and running expenses of the car in parish work). The priest also receives reasonable rates on their loan for their car to make it possible to pay it off. (Other Dioceses in Australia and other parts of the world provide a car as part of the work that the priest does, in that case he may receive it free or have to contribute a percentage himself and this may mean he receives a lower personal allowance. Each Diocese may have a different arrangement).

In order to allow the priest to plan for his future security, pay for the extra necessities of clothes and books etc and save up for holidays and to allow the priest to do the other reasonable things that any individual could do like go to movies and have a meal with friends etc., the Diocese gives each priest a monthy allowance. Given that a priest is receiving free room and board this modest allowance is adequate for a priest to live comfortably but not outrageously and also save for their future. The stipend is approximately $11,000 (AUD). The tax department and the local church allows fifty percent of this amount to  be taken as a goods or services (a fringe benefit) which is a legal way of reducing taxable income. If this option is taken, then the priest receives  in the hand around $AUD 5,000. This is taxable and does not include payment for weddings and other contributions for religious services. The priest is expected to declare such extra income in a tax return. * However, it is not lawful for a priest to charge for religious services, but some people offer a donation to the priest.In Brisbane Archdiocese there is a body called the Clergy Sustentation Fund, which is a board of people set up to manage the funds for the priests' stipends, on behalf of all priests. They ensure that if one parish gets a lot of money from the first collection (for the upkeep of priests) that once the allowance has been paid for the priests in that parish, the excess goes to pay the stipends of priests in parishes that are not getting sufficient funds. Thus,  all priests receive basically the same allowance. This Fund pays for a priest’s health insurance too.

The main point is that, although the Priest receives an income significantly less than an average worker, he does not (in the main) have the costs of dependants, mortgage repayment, etc and so comparatively the allowance is quite fair.

A priest, like any other person, is perfectly free to go to parties, drink alcohol and meet up with friends. Naturally, because of his position and his commitments, one would expect that, like other public figures, a priest’s behaviour is always appropriate and never scandalous. The priest is free to act in the way other citizens act, but naturally always acting consistently with his Christian principles and values.

* Note this is an rough guide only. New tax laws which have come into effect on July 1 2002 require income from the stipend, Baptism, Wedding and Funeral donations to be assesed as income. There are also complex fringe benefit options that allow a person to reduce their asessable income but take the difference as goods and services.