Hillsong finances under investigation and accused of threatening student with $50 sex fine

A former female Hillsong College student claims to have been threatened with a $50 fine for having sex with her boyfriend, as the megachurch is under investigation by the charities watchdog.

Under siege Christian megachurch Hillsong is officially being investigated by the charities watchdog, which has the power to strip it of its tax free status.

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission made an “extremely rare” disclosure on Friday that it was looking into Hillsong’s finances.

It comes after more than 10,000 Hillsong financial documents were tabled in federal parliament and disturbing claims raised in a new podcast, Faith On Trial.

ACNC Commissioner Sue Woodward AM said on Friday she wanted to set the record straight.

“Although it was stated in parliament that the ACNC has not acted, I can confirm that we are investigating concerns raised about Hillsong Church charities. Hillsong has stated publicly that it is fully co-operating with regulatory authorities,” Ms Woodward said.

Ms Woodward said investigations can “be complex and take time to complete.”

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has also demanded the Australian Taxation Office investigate accusations — made under parliamentary privilege this week by Independent MP Andrew Wilkie — that the Christian megachurch is hiding $80 million a year in income.

Mr Wilkie hit back at the ACNC on Saturday morning, saying that it had refused to take the whistleblower’s documents. “The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission claims it’s investigating Hillsong. But the ACNC refused to receive the whistleblower’s evidence and that’s why they came to me. And that’s a fact #auspol #politas,” he wrote on Twitter.

And News Corp can reveal a female student claims to have been threatened by Hillsong College with a $50 fine for having sex with her boyfriend and coerced into writing a traumatising essay on saving yourself for marriage.

Alyssa Harper, a former Hillsong member. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Alyssa Harper, 22, moved from Canada to Sydney to attend the church’s college but says

she was interrogated about her sex life after she was dobbed in by other students sitting with her boyfriend.

“They basically said if they’re together, sitting under a blanket in public, what could they possibly be doing in private?” Ms Harper said.

“And there is such a culture of dobbing in your friends and the people that you know, because if you do that, it shows the people in leadership that you are more like you care more about Hillsong than you do about your friends.”

See Ms Harper’s video explanation of what happened above.

Ms Harper said she was then hauled into a leader’s office and asked to explain herself.

She had agreed with her boyfriend that she would be honest, so she told them they had sex.

Ms Harper, who attended Hillsong College in 2019 and 2020, said she reluctantly agreed to write an essay on why sex before marriage was wrong because she was worried she would be kicked out of college and lose her visa.

“We were told we had to read a book and we had to write an essay based off of that book where we basically just had to lie through our teeth and say that we thought sex before marriage was so bad,” she said.

LISTEN TO THE FAITH ON TRIAL PODCAST

“And then we actually had to pretend we had read the book all the way through.

“And we were told every time you break the Code of Conduct, you’re meant to pay a $50 fee each.”

Ms Harper said she never paid the fine.

The details emerged as Hillsong was accused under parliamentary privilege of fraud and tax evasion.

The college has also been accused in a new podcast, Faith On Trial, of teaching young women to physically “submit” to their husbands.

Andrew Wilkie speaking in the Federation Chamber about Hillsong. Picture: Supplied

Mr Wilkie has referred that claim to New South Wales police.

Hillsong has rules that students cannot date in the first six months of their time at its college, which advertises that it offers courses that qualify for government backed loans.

Students are also banned from drinking any alcohol.

The church details some of its rules on its website.

It orders students to “abstain from biblically immoral practices including: drunkenness, illicit drug use, criminal behaviour, stealing, slanderous or profane language, dishonesty, occult practices, sexual sins.”

Mr Clare demanded a probe into the claims made by Mr Wilkie.

“These are serious allegations and if you are a member of the congregation and you’ve made

donations to the Church, then you’d be legitimately worried about where your money has gone here,” he said on Sunrise.

“So it is important that they’re investigated by the charities watchdog but also by the

tax office and ASIC.”

Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley said: “Let me make it clear these allegations are

about the organisation, not about the people. It’s not a crime to be a person of faith in Australia.”

Hillsong on Thursday issued a statement saying, “Hillsong is a different church now than we were twelve months ago, and weare under new pastoral and board leadership. We are working hard to set a course for the future that ensures our structuresare accountable, transparent, and honouring to God.”

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Originally published as Hillsong finances under investigation and accused of threatening student with $50 sex fine