Cardinal George Pell has pleaded not guilty to sex offence charges.

Cardinal George Pell has pleaded not guilty during his brief court appearance to face historical sexual offence charges involving multiple complainants.

Pell did not speak during the brief filing hearing, which lasted six minutes.

But his lawyer Robert Richter QC told the court the 76-year-old denies all charges.

“Cardinal Pell pleads not guilty to all the charges and will maintain his presumed innocence that he has,” Mr Richter told the court.

Prosecutor Andrew Tinney told the court a deadline of September 8 has been given for police to provide its brief of evidence to Pell and his legal team.

"I can indicate that it is my expectation the brief will be delivered well before, possibly late next week."

Magistrate Duncan Reynolds has set October 6 as the date for the next mention of the matter.

Pell's defence team did not ask the magistrate to excuse the cardinal from appearing when the case returns to court.

The 76-year-old has taken leave from his position as Vatican treasurer to return to Australia to fight historical sexual offence charges involving multiple complainants.

The third most powerful person in the Catholic Church was confronted with a massive contingent of Australian and international media on his arrival at court on Wednesday morning.