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A new, unique form of harm is now before the Parliamentary Inquiry into Cults and fringe groups

With the close of submissions for the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Cults and Fringe Groups now behind us, we get to take a collective breath and exhale.

We were absolutely thrilled by the input and endorsements for this document. A workgroup came together to create it – with Stop Religious Coercion Australia, and a bunch of powerhouse advocates joining us here at Survivors of Coercive Cults and High-Control groups.

Sixty-four individuals gave their feedback and input into this submission, which proposes a belief-neutral, behaviour-focused way forward which upholds freedom of religion, association and belief. It proposes a new and distinct form of harm – group-based coercive control – which honours the victim-to-perpetrator continuum and builds in prevention, research, resources and recourse as a way forward. A whopping 935 people added their names to endorse it (including 416 whose names are kept private and confidential). This is massive. Seeing this document cut laps around the internet is hugely gratifying. Meaningful change is possible.

You can read the full document here.

Here is a summary.

This submission to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry has been co-designed by survivors of cults and high-control groups, in partnership with families, mental health professionals, and advocates. It proposes a new regulatory paradigm – group-based coercive control – to respond to cultic abuse and other forms of organised coercion through a belief-neutral, behaviour-focused framework grounded in human rights, trauma theory, and lived experience.

Part 1 responds to the Inquiry’s terms of reference by documenting how coercive groups recruit, control, and harm. It outlines:

• Recruitment strategies that exploit trust, identity, and unmet needs through deception, grooming, and affective manipulation;
• Control mechanisms that erode autonomy through patterned psychological pressure, identity restructuring, and peer surveillance;
• Impacts that are often cumulative, enduring, and unrecognised – including disrupted development, trauma, family estrangement, and systemic dislocation.

Part 2 introduces group-based coercive control as a framework capable of capturing harm that is collective, sustained, and embedded in closed or ideologically framed settings. This paradigm focuses not on what groups believe, but how coercion is enacted, justified, and enforced. It offers four practical tools to inform reform:

• The Group-Based Coercion Matrix (Appendix A), which assesses the breadth and legitimacy of coercion across six domains;
• The Risk–Pattern–Harm Model (Appendix B), which supports tiered, proportionate legal responses;
• Legal Mapping Tables (Appendix C), identifying where current laws fail to prevent or remedy coercive harm;
• Model Survivor Journeys (Appendix D), illustrating how coercion unfolds across varied identities and life contexts.

Part 3 presents 16 recommendations across five areas: lived-experience leadership, formal recognition, recovery support, legal reform, and systemic oversight. These include:

• Embedding survivor voices in advisory and training roles;
• Developing a legal definition of group-based coercive control;
• Funding specialist trauma services and exit pathways;
• Introducing civil and regulatory tools to address coercive patterns before criminal thresholds are met.

The submission concludes that group-based coercive control is a preventable, systemic harm. Victoria’s leadership in addressing family violence and institutional abuse provides a strong foundation for recognising and responding to coercive patterns embedded in ideologically framed, non-state group contexts. Survivor-informed reform offers a principled path forward – centred not on suppressing belief, but on safeguarding autonomy, accountability, and human dignity.

Whats next?

This doesn’t mark the end of our advocacy journey. Rather it marks the begininning. Parliamentary hearings will begin in the following weeks and months, and we plan to continue lobbying government to keep survivor voices and lived-experiences at the front of the drive towards meaningful policy development and legislative solutions.

Stay tuned in for the journey! The best plae to do that is the Victorian Cult Survivors Network, but we have no doubt there is more to come in that space too. Including a mailing list – as soon as Clare figures out how to do the web design thing there.

Thanks for being part of the journey!