Bishop Genieve Blackwell said she would also push the church to reconnect with a community facing questions over the treatment of refugees, asylum seekers and sexual minorities.

Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier appointed Bishop Blackwell to the position after consulting his council on Thursday night.

Bishop Blackwell, who is currently assistant bishop in the Canberra-Goulburn diocese, will replace recently retired Bishop Barbara Darling, who became Melbourne's first female bishop in 2008.

The 52-year-old Bishop Blackwell, who is expected to take up the post in the first half of 2015, said she looked forward to addressing issues within the church and in the wider community.

"As a society we're grappling with what it means to respond to refugees and asylum seekers and what it means to respond to sexuality and dealing with a changing world," she said.

"I think we can contribute in a thoughtful and compassionate way. We come from a tradition of wanting to understand rather than one of being strident."

Bishop Blackwell said the ongoing Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse had highlighted changes that need to be made within the church.

The daughter of a methodist minister, Bishop Blackwell was ordained in 1998 and became New South Wales' first female bishop in 2012.

She said it was pleasing see more women being accepted into leadership positions in the church.

"I think as women we bring particular gifts and it's lovely that in the leadership of the church we see both men and women being accepted and used by God, and this reflects His kingdom," she said.

Bishop Blackwell was ordained as a priest in 1998 and a bishop in 2012. She has degrees from the University of Sydney and the Australian College of Theology, and an MA in theology from the Australian Catholic University.