A Catholic priest was given "a new start" at a NSW parish despite being under a cloud of child sex abuse complaints, a royal commission has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was told that John Joseph Farrell, 62, was appointed to a clergy position at Tamworth east in 1984, not long after he'd left the Moree parish because of complaints he'd sexually abused a number of boys.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Gail Furness SC said the then-bishop of Armidale allegedly told the parish priest in charge of Tamworth that Farrell had "made a mess of things in Moree and needed a new start".