About BBI-TAITE

BBI The Australian Institute of Theological Education is a not-for-profit Australian public company limited by guarantee which delivers postgraduate courses and non-award adult faith and professional development courses. The postgraduate courses are in theological studies, religious education, leadership and theology, and canon law. The Institute designed the non-award programs to build Christian faith, spirituality, and leadership. This range of offerings fulfils the original charter’s requirement to “undertake the education of persons in Christian spirituality and adult education and to give any person who is desirous of undertaking or continuing their education in Christian spirituality and adult education the opportunity to do so.” (Deed of Trust (1979) A)

In 1979 Father David Walker established the Centre for Christian Spirituality. In 1994 the Centre became an Associate Member of the Sydney College of Divinity (SCD) and a full Member in 2001, offering distance education to Catholic school teachers. In 2003 the Centre gifted its programs to the Diocese of Broken Bay. This led to The Broken Bay Institute (BBI) being created to deliver in seminar and online education modes to Catholic Education schools offices across Australia.

In 2009 the Institute left the SCD consortium to partner with universities, including the University of Newcastle (UoN), University of Tasmania (UTas), and the University of Wollongong (UoW), offering theological education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. From 2010 to 2017, the Institute designed and delivered in online mode a Master of Theology course with various specialisations through UoN. The partnerships with the UoN and UTas ended in 2017. In 2015 the Institute re-partnered with SCD; however, in 2017, BBI ended that partnership.

Following fifteen years of partnership with the SCD and several years with University sector partners, the Institute gained initial registration as a Higher Education Provider on 1 September 2016, with re-registration due on 1 September 2025.

A partnership with Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada, enables BBI-TAITE to deliver the first pontifically recognised degrees in Canon Law in Australia.

Along with these arrangements for accredited awards, the Institute provides non-accredited adult faith and professional development courses with various partners. It delivers these offerings in a range of modes, such as online, distance education, and face-to-face seminars.