Houston’s counsel, Ms Edwards, told the court that the prosecution and defence had agreed that three weeks was likely with a possible spillover to four weeks.

Mr Harrison, who appeared for the prosecution, had said during their negotiations that a similar matter he had appeared in had taken three weeks.

The parties are seeking a “special fixture” for the unusually long trial in the local court. The court has set aside dates in November running into December this year.

Houston, who has stepped back from his role as Senior Global Pastor of Hillsong for 2022, is charged with “Conceal serious indictable offence of another person” which concerns child sexual abuse that occurred in the 1970s, which he became aware of in 1999. He has pleaded not guilty via his lawyer.

The perpetrator was Frank Houston, Brian Houston’s father. The elder Houston abused a number of children in his native New Zealand, but the case before the court concerns the abuse of Australian survivor Brett Sengstock as a young boy.

When he stepped down from his role, Houston told the Hillsong churches around Australia that he intends to “Fight the case vigorously” and “welcomes the chance to set the record straight.”