Our Team
NIECA is governed by an Executive Board, including the following key positions.
Dr Professor Anne Pattel-Gray
CHAIR
Professor Dr Anne Pattel-Gray is the Academic Director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies at the University of Queensland. She has an earned Ph.D. from the University of Sydney awarded in 1995 in the Studies of Religion with the major focus on Aboriginal Religion and Spirituality plus a Doctor of Divinity from India awarded in 1997. Professor Dr Pattel-Gray is a recognized scholar, theologian, activist and prolific writer with many chapters and authored publications including her most recent works – Red Ochre Theology and the De-colonising Biblical Narratives series, co-authored with Norm Habel. She is a descendant of the Bidjara and Nguri Nations in Queensland and a renowned Aboriginal leader within Australia – nationally and internationally. She is a member of the Institute of Indigenous Knowledge at Melbourne University – Indigenous Advisory committee and a Fellow of The Wesley Centre in Melbourne. She is currently appointed Commissioner to the Commission for World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) and a member of the Ecumenical Indigenous Peoples Network of the World Council of Churches. She is a recognised expert in de-colonising biblical narratives and developing Indigenous theology, reinterpreting biblical narratives through an Indigenous cultural lens, she brings significant insights into the cultural knowledge and religious life of Aboriginal people and Blak women’s perspective, exposing historical truth of colonisation and missionisation and its impact on First Nations peoples.
Reverend Dr Garry Worete Deverell
DEPUTY CHAIR
Rev Dr Garry Deverell is a recognised Aboriginal scholar, author and liturgists. He has authored many articles, chapters and books such as Contemplating Country: More Gondwana Theology, 2023 and Gondwana Theology: A Trawloolway Man Reflects on Christina Faith, 2024. He is a graduate of the University of Tasmania, Melbourne College of Divinity, and Monash University (where he completed doctoral studies in 2004). He has held the Sanderson Fellowship and a lectureship in liturgy and preaching at the Uniting Church Theological College as well as the Turner Fellowship at Trinity College Theological School, both within the University of Divinity. He lectured and research collaboration between Whitley College, the University of Divinity, and NAIITS to deliver a curriculum in Indigenous Theology for Australia and a longtime member and contributor to the Australian Academy of Liturgy. Garry is considered an international expert in sacramental studies, especially insofar as sacraments intersect with theories concerning the formation of human selves in community. His more recent research has turned towards theologising the experience of Indigenous peoples in and around the Christian churches. Garry is a priest of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne and member of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican Council.
Nathan Tyson
director
Des is a respected Aboriginal Elder and Traditional Man from the Pertame clan of Central Australia. His connection to Queensland is through his grandmother who was born ‘in the bush’ near the old railway siding of Malbon, near Cloncurry. He is an entrepreneur with a strong track record of establishing and building successful private enterprises. A highly skilled leader, he holds extensive Board experience in the not-for-profit social and community services industry and public sectors. Des’ extensive board experience includes National Indigenous Ecumenical Council in Australia, ANTar (Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation), OXFAM Australia, Murri Watch and Charles Darwin University. Des maintains his strong connection to bush and currently lives in the place of the blue water lily, Meanjin – Brisbane – the traditional Country of the Turrbal, Yuggera and Mugajin peoples. He continues to enjoy mentoring young First Nations people, supporting them to reach their potential.
Mikenzie Ling
SECRETARY
Mikenzie Ling is a proud Wiradjuri woman from Narromine, living on Wonnarua Country in the Hunter Valley. She is passionate about seeing First Nations Christians live out their culture and their Christian faith in deeply holistic ways, empowered to proudly pursue and embody what it is to be both “authentically Aboriginal and truly Christian” (Uncle Rev. Graham Paulson). Mikenzie earned her Master of Theology in 2023 with her research dissertation titled ‘Is Land My Mother?’, focusing on First Nations’ theologies of Custodianship and connection to Country. Her areas of interest include Indigenous theology, ecotheology, global theology and ecumenical unity. She works for the World Council of Churches and the Uniting Church Australia Synod of NSW/ACT. Mikenzie’s roles exist to further develop and resource Indigenous theologies and ecumenical networks, and the decolonization of mission, evangelism and church praxis. She is currently working on multiple publications with focuses on ‘kinship with Creation’, ‘location-bound theologizing’, ‘blended ecology’, and theological resources of Oceania.
Desmond Rogers
TREASURER
Des is a respected Aboriginal Elder and Traditional Man from the Pertame clan of Central Australia. His connection to Queensland is through his grandmother who was born ‘in the bush’ near the old railway siding of Malbon, near Cloncurry. He is an entrepreneur with a strong track record of establishing and building successful private enterprises. A highly skilled leader, he holds extensive Board experience in the not-for-profit social and community services industry and public sectors. Des’ extensive board experience includes National Indigenous Ecumenical Council in Australia, ANTar (Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation), OXFAM Australia, Murri Watch and Charles Darwin University. Des maintains his strong connection to bush and currently lives in the place of the blue water lily, Meanjin – Brisbane – the traditional Country of the Turrbal, Yuggera and Mugajin peoples. He continues to enjoy mentoring young First Nations people, supporting them to reach their potential.