Adelaide Uni occult club accuses student union of censorship

An uni club focused on Satanism, witchcraft and the occult says it is being censored by a student union that’s facing claims of being hijacked by Young Liberals.

There is nothing unusual about delays to a university occult club’s application for official registration, the Adelaide University Union says.

The club for witches, pagans and Satanists at the University of Adelaide has had its official registration application delayed, a situation its president claimed was part of a “long pattern of censorship”.

However, union president Oscar Zi Shao Ong said on Thursday that the delay was to allow new members of the Clubs Committee time to be brief on the application.

“The Occult Club continues to be a provisionally affiliated club of the Adelaide University Union with ongoing access to all the same benefits as fully registered clubs,” he said.

“It is standard practice for a provisional club to be assessed after 12 months of operation before granting full affiliation to the AUU.”

“The tabling of items is not unusual and is only a temporary pause on the process for full registration and not unusual when there is a changeover on the Committee.”

Formed in late 2020, the Adelaide University Occult Club was provisionally registered with the Adelaide University Union (AUU), but this month their application for full registration was delayed.

The club’s president, Ashley Towner, who asked not to be referred to with gendered pronouns, said about 10 different religions were represented in the club that hosts book clubs and discussions about witchcraft, Satanism and paganism.

They said the club did not practise any rituals on Adelaide University campus due to its large number of conflicting religious beliefs.

Tarot cards file image.

“We’re not just a witchcraft club, although a lot of our members are witches, we’re not just a Tarot reading club, even though a lot of our members do Tarot … It’s very broad,” Towner said.

They said the club was “completely harmless”.

“It’s just a place on campus for people who are interested in the occult.”

They said the occult name was chosen to represent the many views in the club.

“The occult being different types of spiritual magic, not like magic tricks, but magic that can often be related to religions … and it’s a place for us to get together and discuss,” Towner said.

Registering a club at university entitles it to funding, as well as access to space and equipment.

They said they believed their club had its registration denied after being told the AUU had received student complaints.

Towner said other clubs have also faced hurdles because they did not align with the AUU’s views.

“They’ve tabled it on the basis that they’re awaiting written complaints from students, but these complaints haven’t been written yet, they don’t seem to know which students they’re coming from, they don’t know the content of these complaints,” they said.

“This particular process has never been used for any other club.”

The club’s concerns come as a student protest over staff cuts, faculty mergers and cost-cutting to clubs was held at the Barr Smith Lawns on Thursday afternoon.

President of the Adelaide University Student Representative Council (SRC), Ana Obradovic, said student “outrage” over “unaccountable” management had reached breaking point.

“People have been outraged that we don’t get any say in how our education looks, or the direction that it’s heading,” Ms Obradovic said.

President of the Adelaide University SRC Ana Obradovic. Picture: Mark Brake

She said the AUU, run by majorly Young Liberals who “get into unions to destroy student democracy from the inside”.

The SRC’s funding has been cut, as well as Ms Obradovic’s pay, she said.

“This is part of a wider pattern of anti-democratic attacks, that the rights have done to appease their own evangelical, right wing voting base, definitely doesn’t reflect the will of the students,” Ms Obradovic said.

The University of Adelaide has been contacted for comment.

The club have started a petition to “save” their organisation, and can be found here.