By Sarah McMillan\/cvnznews.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For months now, a Victorian parliamentary inquiry has been hearing some of the most disturbing testimony ever levelled at Australia\u2019s high\u2011control religious groups. Survivors\u2014many speaking publicly for the first time\u2014have described childhoods marked by fear, coercion, and violence, and adulthoods shaped by the long shadow of psychological harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The inquiry has received 286 public submissions<\/strong>, most from former members or their families. An ABC analysis of those submissions shows six groups repeatedly named: Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses (46 submissions), Geelong Revival Centre (25), Shincheonji Church of Jesus (10), City Builders Church (6), Two by Twos (5), and the Church of Scientology (4).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Four of these groups currently operate as registered charities<\/strong>, giving them access to significant tax advantages. Two\u2014Two by Twos and the Geelong Revival Centre\u2014are not registered as charities or businesses in Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Across the submissions, a consistent pattern emerges: child sexual abuse allegations, psychological manipulation, forced isolation, brutal discipline, and fear\u2011based control<\/strong>. Ninety\u2011five per cent of respondents say they suffered psychological harm. One former Jehovah\u2019s Witness recalled being shown graphic images of Armageddon as a child\u2014\u201cterrifying\u201d scenes used to enforce obedience. Others described harassment and surveillance after leaving their groups, including claims of online monitoring and coordinated pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recruitment practices are also under scrutiny. Previous ABC reporting exposed Shincheonji\u2019s highly organised, deceptive methods for drawing in new members\u2014tactics now being examined by the Australian Charities and Not\u2011for\u2011profits Commission (ACNC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The groups named in the inquiry have responded with varying degrees of engagement. Scientology dismissed the allegations as \u201cunfounded\u201d and driven by \u201canti\u2011religious activists.\u201d Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses said they would not enter public debate. City Builders Church insists it upholds mainstream Christian belief and says the committee refused to hear its evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Financial transparency is emerging as a central concern. Recent filings show The Church of Scientology Australia reported more than $21 million in revenue<\/strong>, while the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia declared nearly $18 million<\/strong>. Taxation experts warn that when charities accumulate wealth rather than direct funds toward public benefit, they risk drifting from their stated purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inquiry chair Ella George says the committee is particularly concerned about how high\u2011control groups use member contributions\u2014and whether charitable status is being misused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The inquiry\u2019s final report is due in September, but one thing is already clear: Australia is being forced to confront the uncomfortable intersection of faith, power, and accountability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Sarah McMillan\/cvnznews.com For months now, a Victorian parliamentary inquiry has been hearing some of the most disturbing testimony ever levelled at Australia\u2019s high\u2011control religious groups. Survivors\u2014many speaking publicly for the first time\u2014have described childhoods marked by fear, coercion, and violence, and adulthoods shaped by the long shadow of psychological harm. The inquiry has received<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40],"tags":[327,1162,1161,439],"coauthors":[380],"class_list":{"0":"post-13034","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-faith","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-jehovahs-witnesses","10":"tag-scientology","11":"tag-shincheonji"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Bible-c.avif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13034"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13036,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13034\/revisions\/13036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13034"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=13034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}