TWO Australian ecumenical Indigenous theological-study centres closed last month. Both Wontulp-Bi-Buya College, in Cairns, northern Queensland, and the School of Indigenous Studies, in the national University of Divinity, have closed because of financial problems.

Wontulp-Bi-Buya College, an initiative of the Anglican, Uniting, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran Churches, dating back more than 40 years, had “run out of money”, the Anglican Bishop of North Queensland, the Rt Revd Keith Joseph, wrote in a letter to students on 9 July. A liquidator had been appointed, he said, and it was hoped that other theological colleges might be able to help current students complete their courses. The college, whose name in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages means faith and the light of Christ, offered a range of certificate courses in Indigenous theology, community development, and suicide prevention.

The University of Divinity announced the disestablishment of its School on 16 July because it was “not financially sustainable in the current Higher Education environment”. The aim of the School, launched in December 2021, was to encourage “the development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander theologies and ministries, and to decolonise the euro-centric version of Christianity that remain dominant in this country”. The School was headed by a prominent Aboriginal theologian and ecumenical church leader, Professor Anne Pattel-Gray, a member of the Uniting Church in Australia, with a Tasmanian Aboriginal man and Anglican priest, Canon Garry Deverell, a member of staff.

The National Tertiary Education Union, commenting that it was “appalled” by the University of Divinity’s decision, said that there were no “specific culturally safe or appropriate support services for other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students studying at public and private universities across Australia”.