Keith Francis Slater (born 1949) is an Australian former

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. In 2016, responding to a peer-reviewed study ...

. He served as the Bishop of Grafton from 2003 until he resigned in 2013 due complaints concerning his handling of abuse. He was found to be unfit to remain in Holy Orders in 2025.

Biography

Slater was studied at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

( BA),

Brisbane College of Theology Brisbane College of Theology, located in Auchenflower, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, was an ecumenical theological education consortium (1983–2009), comprising St Francis' Theological College (Anglican), St Paul's Theological College (Roman ...

( ThL; MMin), and the

Kelvin Grove Teachers College Kelvin Grove Teachers' College was established in 1961 to provide courses in primary and secondary teacher education from its predecessor the Queensland Teachers' Training College. History The Brisbane School of Arts was formed in 1849 and it wa ...

(Dip. Teaching). Slater was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

Gladstone, Queensland Gladstone () is a coastal city in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the Gladstone urban area had a population of 45,185 people. It is by road north-west of the state capital, Brisbane, and south-east of Rockhampton, Queensl ...

priest in charge A priest in charge or priest-in-charge (previously also curate-in-charge) in the Church of England is a priest in charge of a parish who is not its incumbent; they will normally work on a short-term contract and have less freedom to act within the ...

Springsure Springsure is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Springsure had a population of 950 people. Geography Springsure is situated by road ...

and the

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

of Lilley. From 2003 to 2013, he served as the Bishop of Grafton. On 17 May 2013 he resigned due to complaints concerning his handling of abuse at the North Coast Children's Home in

Lismore, New South Wales Lismore is a city located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore Local government in Australia, local government area, it is also a regional centre in the Northern River ...

. Slater was deposed from holy orders on 16 October 2015 by the Professional Standards Board of the Diocese of Grafton. However, on 19 January 2017, the Appellate Tribunal of the Anglican Church of Australia declared that, though it had no appellate jurisdiction in the matter, the deposition itself had had no legal basis because, in purporting to depose him, the diocesan Professional Standards Board had exceeded its own jurisdiction. As a consequence of this Slater's deposition from holy orders was overturned. In March 2025, the Episcopal Standards Board of the Anglican Church of Australia found him unfit to remain in Holy Orders and thereby laicised him.

References

1949 births Archdeacons of Lilley Anglican bishops of Grafton 20th-century Anglican bishops in Australia Living people University of Queensland alumni Laicized Anglican bishops {{Australia-anglican-bishop-stub