Media Release: Survivors Welcome Inquiry's Recommendations

MELBOURNE — 29 July 2026

The Victorian Inquiry into Cults and Fringe Groups has today handed down its recommendations report in State Parliament, marking the first inquiry of its kind. Survivor advocacy groups have welcomed the report, saying it offers hope to survivors of coercive cults and high-control groups and, for the first time, recognises the significant gaps in a system that has not been equipped to identify or respond to the abuse that occurs in these groups.

The Inquiry into the Recruitment Methods and Impacts of Cults and Organised Fringe Groups was conducted by the Legislative Assembly's Legal and Social Issues Committee. Its report, Crossing the Line: Coercion and Harm in High-Control Groups, draws on submissions and hearings from survivors, families, researchers and service providers across the state.

Among its recommendations, the report calls for “group-based coercion” to become a criminal offence, for survivor expertise to be embedded in the design and evaluation of legal, policy and service reforms through a formal lived experience advisory body, and for the law to recognise that “consent” cannot be relied on as a defence, given that these groups systematically erode a person's ability to give it freely.

Importantly, the recommendations are entirely belief-neutral. The report specifically recommends against introducing any legal definition of “cult”, instead directing that any new offence be behaviour-focused and applicable regardless of a group's beliefs or professed religious status.

“This is a vitally important recommendation that we fully support. No victim should have to prove their group is a cult before proving that group-based coercive control and abuse occurred, or that it mattered. Any group can be a cult – multi-level marketing cults, yoga cults, political cults and more all exist. Cults are not a phenomenon of belief, but coercive control and domination across multiple domains of life,” said Clare Heath-McIvor, from Survivors of Coercive Cults and High-Control Groups.

The report has been hailed as a watershed moment for cult survivors, many of whom have been advocating for change for decades.

“This report shows that the Committee has listened to all survivors who were brave enough to tell their stories. We call upon the government to be brave enough to implement the recommendations in full. We'd like to thank the Committee and the secretariat for their compassion, and the survivors who contributed — this could not have been done without you. We also acknowledge those in our community who are unable to speak,” said Ryan and Catherine Carey, from Stop Religious Coercion Australia.

“CIFS welcomes the report and all its recommendations. It sets a strong foundation for Victoria — and by calling for Federal Government action, it opens the door to protecting people right across Australia. CIFS has been raising concerns on behalf of families and survivors affected by high-control groups for thirty years; this is the first time that call has been answered so comprehensively. We wholeheartedly thank the Committee for listening, and for the difficult work of producing this report. CIFS looks forward to continuing the work of supporting victim-survivors and their families, and advocating for these recommendations to be implemented in full,” said Renee Spencer, President of Cult Information and Family Support (CIFS).

“What this report names, survivors have been telling us for years. People leave high-control groups and walk into a service system that does not recognise what has happened to them. Recognition alone will not fix that gap, and we are pleased to see recommendations for survivor-led professional development in the mental health space. Survivors should not have to educate their own therapist before they can start recovering,” said Sam Sellers and Elise Heerde, Co-Directors of Religious Trauma and Cults (RTC).

Survivor groups say the report represents a turning point after years of survivors describing a system unable to see or name the harm caused by coercive high-control groups, and are now calling on the Victorian Government to adopt and implement all of the Committee's recommendations in full, without delay.

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Media contact:  Clare Heath-McIvor – hello@clareheathmcivor.com   |   0432 763 538

Notes to editors:  The full report, Crossing the Line: Coercion and Harm in High-Control Groups, is available on the Parliament of Victoria website.