In August 1978, at a joint Annual Conference of ANZSTS and ANZATS (The Australian and New Zealand Society for Theological Studies and The Australian and New Association of Theological Schools) at La Trobe University, Melbourne, a number of papers were presented on 'Theology in the Australian Context' . The subsequently appeared in Toward Theology in an Australian Context, edited by Dr. Victor Hayes, of Stuart College of Advanced Education (AASR Publications, Bedford Park, 1979). The dialogue on which theology relies is as near the surface, and as ordinary, as that . It is a matter of locating it and using it. The theologian, however, does not have to do that for himself. It is the traditional function of philosophy within any culture - to reflect, to make explicit, to correct, to dispute, the thinking which is its foundation and cement.