Coercive control in cults to be examined in Victorian parliamentary inquiry
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The Victorian government has announced a parliamentary inquiry into cults and “organised fringe groups” in the state, following revelations from several former members of a secretive Christian group in Geelong that exposed severe punishments and extreme teachings being administered.
Earlier this month, Christine Couzens, Geelong’s Labor MP and a member of the Legal and Social Issues Standing Committee successfully passed a referral to the state parliament’s lower house for an inquiry to examine how cults and organised fringe groups recruit and coercively control its members.
On social media, Couzens said she was “pleased” by the announcement of the inquiry, adding: “I move by leave…That this House refers an inquiry into cults and organised fringe groups in Victoria, the methods used to recruit and control their members and the impacts of coercive control to the Legal and Social Issues Standing Committee for consideration and report no later than 30 September 2026.”
Survivors of the regional Victorian church as well as survivors of other cults, including Truth 2x2s, Children of God and Family International submitted their experiences of cults and high control groups to the Victorian State Attorney General and requested an inquiry.
The announcement comes four months after the Herald’s investigative journalist Richard Baker released the nine-part podcast Secrets We Keep: Pray Harder, which exposed the abuse, violence and sexism members of the the Geelong Revival Centre (GRC) experienced.
Content retrieved from: https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/coercive-control-in-cults-to-be-examined-in-victorian-parliamentary-inquiry/.
