A former Catholic priest tried to import vile child pornography into the country, a court has heard.

Peter Andrew Hansen, 61, pleaded guilty to 23 child exploitation charges when he faced Central Local Court, in Sydney, on Wednesday.

Hansen, a Labor party branch president, from Cabramatta, has been behind bars since last October when he returned home from a four month teaching stint in Vietnam.

Hansen was initially charged with three offences after he was arrested at Sydney International Airport when Australian Border Force officers found child pornography on an external hard drive in his luggage.

Peter Andrew Hansen has pleaded guilty to 23 child exploitation charges

He was later charged with an extra 22 charges, two of which have since been withdrawn.

On Wednesday, the court heard disturbing details of the child pornography material Australian Border Force officers found in Hansen's luggage, including seven videos of boys engaged in sexual acts.

According to the police fact sheet, the videos showed boys who were 'instructed to remove their clothing and perform sexual acts on themselves and other children'.

The fact sheet also stated a title page at the start of the video listed the names and ages of the minors aged 12-15.

Hansen, 61, has been remanded in custody since returning home from Vietnam last October

The court also heard a laptop, mobile phone, external hard drive, a camera, four USBs and four SIM cards were found in his luggage.

Hansen pleaded guilty to 15 counts of producing child pornography said to have occurred in the Philippines and Vietnam between April 2014 and December 2017, News Corp reported.

He also pleaded guilty to five charges of using a carriage service to transmit and one count of possessing child abuse material and importing prohibited tier 2 goods.

Hansen has been committed for sentencing.

His case is listed for mentioning at Downing Centre District Court on October 18.

Hansen is fluent in Vietnamese and previously worked as a compensation lawyer provided legal counsel for the Transport Workers Union of Australia and was an Asian studies lecturer

Hansen was the president of the Labor Party's Cabramatta branch until March this year when the party became aware of the charges and suspended his membership.

The matter had been subject to a suppression order before then.

Hansen was previously a priest for the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne until 2011 and

Hansen is fluent in Vietnamese and previously worked as a compensation lawyer, provided legal counsel for the Transport Workers Union of Australia and was an Asian studies lecturer.