The Venerable Thich Phuoc Tan OAM has been the Abbot of Quang Minh Temple in Braybrook, Melbourne, Australia since 1997. He has been practicing and teaching Pure Land Mahayana Buddhism for many years, and in 1990, he was appointed the spiritual advisor to three different Vietnamese Buddhist Youth Associations; one in Sydney and two in Melbourne.
He took Seminary Precepts with The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue at Phuoc Hue Monastery in Sydney in 1981, the same year that he arrived in Australia as a refugee.
In 1990 he was sent to France where he received his full ordination Bikkshu precepts in Lyon.
In 2004, Venerable Phuoc Tan was the director of the Australian Buddhist General Conference. Together with the Buddhist Federation of Australia, Buddhist Council of Victoria and Victoria University, he was also involved in organizing the “Engaging Buddhism in Australia” conference.
Currently, he is a vice president of the World Fellowship of Buddhists and a member of the Engaging Buddhism Committee, which is helping the Unity and Solidarity Committee of The World Fellowship of Buddhists compile a common English chanting to be used at the opening of future WFB conferences. Locally, Venerable Tan is a member of the Emergency Relief Committee and Clean and Green Committees of Maribyrnong City Council. He has never missed a Clean Up Australia Day since 1995.
He is also a principal of Van Lang Vietnamese Language School. In 2002, he was awarded a Centenary medal for his service to the community. Despite all these tasks, he leads a retreat every week and provides meditation instructions to residents and staff of various organizations and is the spiritual leader of Quang Minh Pure Land Assembly, with more than 200 members practicing vigorously every week.
In 2008, Venerable Phuoc Tan was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in recognition of his services to the community, an honor he promptly shared with the community. He was a patron for the Parliament of World Religions, held in Melbourne in 2009.