The Man Who Meets You at Your Worst: Inside Melbourne Airport's Only Chaplain

Key points

• Martyn Scrimshaw has worked as chaplain at Melbourne Airport for nine years, serving roughly 10,000 daily passengers and 23,000 staff.
• He is one of only two airport chaplains still operating in Australia, after Sydney Airport removed its chaplain during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Romance scam victims regularly arrive at Melbourne Airport's arrivals gate waiting for people who never come, having already sent money overseas.
• A new film and television series, "The Airport Chaplain," starring Hugo Weaving, premieres at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2025.
• Domestic violence survivors, homeless residents, and people experiencing mental health crises all regularly receive support through Scrimshaw's chaplaincy service.

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Martyn Scrimshaw wears a high-visibility vest every day at work. On the back, one word: "Chaplain."

He is not there to preach. He is there because airports, for all their mundane routine, are places where life compresses into a few unbearable hours. Deaths on planes. Homeless men sheltering from the cold. Women fleeing abusers. Elderly people standing alone at arrivals gates, waiting for someone who was never going to come.

"My parish is this airport," Scrimshaw told reporters from The Age.

What does an airport chaplain actually do?

A chaplain is a religious or pastoral worker attached to a non-church setting, like a hospital, a prison, or in this case an airport. The role is broader than prayer. Scrimshaw spends his days meeting people at the sharpest edges of their lives.

When a passenger dies on a flight, which happens every few weeks, Scrimshaw is called in to support the cabin crew, the ground staff, and the family waiting at the terminal. Most deaths involve cardiac arrest. He describes the best outcome as paramedics restoring a heartbeat before the ambulance arrives.

He also checks on people sleeping rough inside the terminal. One man in his 80s was a regular. When the man's health declined, Scrimshaw walked him to the airport pharmacist, arranged a taxi to hospital, and contacted social workers to find him supported housing. A month ago, a welfare agency called asking if Scrimshaw had seen him. He had not.

"I'm hoping the worst hasn't happened," he said.

What are the romance scam cases?

Romance scams are a growing problem at the airport. In a romance scam, criminals spend weeks or months building fake online relationships with victims, often posing as overseas partners, then convince them to send money for a flight or an emergency. The victim never meets anyone.

Scrimshaw sees people, often older, arriving at arrivals and waiting. Nobody walks through. He has to explain, gently, that the money is gone and the person never existed.

One case went further. A man arrived believing his online contact was being held by Australian Border Force, the government agency that manages customs and immigration, and that he needed to pay a fee to release them. "You have to tell them that's not how it works in Australia," Scrimshaw said.

If you or someone you know has sent money to a person they have never met in person, contact Scamwatch, run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, before sending anything further.

The domestic violence cases

Scrimshaw regularly works with domestic violence agencies to help women and children relocating interstate to escape abusers. He finds them safe places to wait. He stays with them until they board.

One case stays with him. A woman fleeing a man in Melbourne's west boarded a SkyBus, a public coach service running between the city and the airport. The driver noticed a man chasing her and shut the doors. Scrimshaw met the woman at the terminal, helped her file a police report, and saw her onto a flight to Tasmania.

The next morning, a second woman arrived with an 11-year-old daughter and a baby, trying to reach Scotland. The man from the previous day, it turned out, was her abuser, and police had detained him overnight for breaching an AVO, an Apprehended Violence Order, which is a court order banning a person from contacting or approaching someone. Scrimshaw helped the woman book flights using payment methods that could not be traced back to her location.

"The stuff she told me, no 11-year-old should see that," he said.

The film, and why there are so few chaplains left

Australia once had more airport chaplains. Sydney Airport ended its chaplaincy service during the COVID-19 pandemic and never reinstated it. Now only Melbourne and Hobart airports operate the service. Scrimshaw is one of two chaplains left in the country.

The upcoming film came from an unlikely encounter. A film producer left her handbag in an Uber and Scrimshaw helped her track it down. She was so struck by his work that she turned it into a drama. "The Airport Chaplain" stars Hugo Weaving in the lead role and premieres at the Melbourne International Film Festival, which runs 6 to 23 August 2025, before airing on SBS.

Life at the airport, Scrimshaw will tell you, is rarely dull.