Call to outlaw ‘coercive’ cults, stop financial secrecy for extreme churches

A widening of coercive control laws to cover groups such as cults and changes to the tax breaks afforded to religious organisations are among reforms proposed after the exposure of extreme teachings at a secretive Australian church.

Former members of the hardline Geelong Revival Centre want criminal coercive control laws, which predominantly target domestic violence, expanded to include extreme religious sects and high-demand groups.

The Geelong Revival Centre.Credit: Simon Schluter

The GRC has been active since the late 1950s and has a network of more than 20 assemblies across Australia and overseas. Pastors in the church have the power to expel members and demand families cut loose any loved ones who decide to leave.

Tore Klevjer, president of volunteer group Cult and Family Information Support, said coercive control was a common feature of cult abuse and states needed to protect vulnerable people.

“The harm done to victims is at least and often more horrific when perpetrated by cults, as it is in domestic relationships,” Klevjer said.

Two former members recalled being kicked out of home as teenagers by their parents on the instruction of the church’s pastor, Noel Hollins, who died earlier this year.

Geelong Revival Centre founder Noel Hollins pictured in church material.

Their stories echo those of other people who have come forward in Australian media outlets in recent months to reveal concerning “cult-like” behaviour within other groups such as the Plymouth Brethren, Two by Twos and the Shincheonji church.

Greens federal justice spokesman Senator David Shoebridge said the allegations about the GRC network raised serious questions about the risks to children and other vulnerable members.

“The extreme limitations on the movement, communication and actions of some members of this church would in any other circumstance amount to coercive control,” he said.

Unlike NSW and Queensland, which have recently made coercive control a criminal offence in domestic partner relationships, Victoria has yet to specifically criminalise coercive control.

At present, Victoria relies on existing family violence laws to cover such control in domestic relationships. South Australia and Western Australia are drafting legislation to make it a criminal offence in domestic settings.

The former GRC members, who have shared their allegations of abuse and trauma in the new investigative podcast Secrets We Keep: Pray Harder and this masthead, urged Geelong state Labor MP Christine Couzens to raise their concerns about the church’s coercive control with Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes.

A delegation of members met Couzens this week to detail how tightly controlled their lives were growing up in the secretive and hardline Pentecostal church.

They told her of how the GRC controlled their relationships, living arrangements, ability to work and access to medical care.

Former members of the Geelong Revival Centre met with Labor MP Christine Couzens (second from right).

“They are all very brave for talking about their harrowing experience to help others and to advocate for change to address the abuse they spoke of,” Couzens said.

The podcast and subsequent reports in this masthead have detailed allegations of historical child sex abuse cover-ups, physical and emotional abuse of children, and harsh restrictions placed on the freedoms of women.

In response to questions, Symes urged members who had suffered abuse or violence to contact police.

“We’ll continue to monitor the operation of our laws to ensure they prevent and respond effectively to any kind of abuse,” her spokeswoman said.

NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley did not respond to questions, and federal Attorney-General Mark Drefyus said coercive control was primarily a matter for the states.

Amy Olver, head of abuse practice at Shine Lawyers, said dozens of former GRC members had contacted her in the past two years alleging historical abuse during Hollins’ long leadership of the church.

“There’s been horrific stories of abuse both within the church walls and abuse at home … many of these people have grown up knowing this as their reality,” Olver said.

She said there was a need to extend coercive control laws to include religious and high-demand groups, but conceded finding the best way to do that was “a really big question”.

Amy Olver from Shine Lawyers.

“I would hope that politicians hear these stories and realise the urgency at which this needs to be looked at,” she said.

As well as coercive control laws, Olver said, lawmakers should consider the tax breaks afforded to extreme religious groups that had a history of disturbing behaviour, and more regular compliance checks on mandatory reporting of abuse.

The GRC and its affiliated assemblies across Australia are registered as “basic religious charities”. This means they are exempt from paying tax and are required to provide far less detailed reporting than regular charities.

The Productivity Commission last year recommended ending the special rules for such charities in the interest of public transparency.

Federal Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh declined to comment on the government’s response to the recommendation, but said the reports about the treatment of GRC members were deeply concerning.

Shoebridge said it was time for the Albanese government to act to require greater transparency and accountability from Australia’s more than 8000 basic religious charities.

If groups such as the GRC wanted to accept the financial benefits of being a recognised charity, then they had an obligation to show basic transparency and operate in a way that did not harm children, he said.

Former senator Nick Xenophon, who once campaigned for Australia to adopt anti-cult laws, backed the calls for coercive control changes and greater transparency.

He also said there was no reason for religious charities to be less accountable than other types of charities.

“Politicians are scared and unwilling to go after the tax-free status of religions,” Xenophon said.

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