Press Release (16 July 2024)

“The federal government should consider, as a matter of urgency, setting up an authority to oversee and monitor religious groups which claim to offer healing and, in some circumstances, deny their followers access to registered health providers,” according to Raphael Aron, Director of Cult Consulting Australia.

Mr Aron referred to the case in Toowoomba, currently before the courts, involving charges of murder and manslaughter relating to the death of a young girl after she was denied medical treatment for her diabetes by members of a religious group who claimed that God would heal her. “This behaviour reflects an attitude which is not uncommon in other organizations presenting as legitimate religious churches” Mr Aron said

A combined investigation by Channel 9’s 60 Minutes and The Age Newspaper last year revealed a connection between the religious belief of a Christian fundamentalist church and the death of four Victorian police officers on the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne in April 2020. It was alleged that the driver who suffered mental health issues and was high on ice, was given the go ahead by a member of the religious group, an employee of the trucking company, to drive the truck that was responsible for this tragedy after he had been cleared of a “witch’s curse.” 

In relation to another organization offering radically alternative health options, in an article quoted in The Sydney morning Herald in July 2012, John Dwyer, the former head of medicine at University of NSW, described one of their practices as ''utter nonsense''. ''GPs might be sending a person off in good faith to get a legitimate therapy but what this person is getting is nonsense,'' he said.

At the time, The Australian Medical Association reportedly said the federal government's pledge to reduce public money going to unproven alternative treatments needed greater focus.

“The fact that some of these organizations enjoy charity status is also a concern. This status also assists these organizations to claim an air or legitimacy around their practices.” Mr Aron said

“Tragically, as we have seen, these organizations may be putting lives at risk. And when treatment is eventually sought, it may be too late. The government needs to act before another tragedy occurs.”