Australian Critics of Scientology
This page maintained by David Gerard.


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Australian Legal and Government Opinions on Scientology


Scientology declared a religion in Australia: High Court decision

- from AustLII (see below). "Charlatanism is a necessary price of religious freedom, and if a self-proclaimed teacher persuades others to believe in a religion which he propounds, lack of sincerity or integrity on his part is not incompatible with the religious character of the beliefs, practices and observances accepted by his followers."


The famous Anderson Report

- the one that got Scientology banned in Victoria from 1965 until 1982 and in Western Australia from 1968 until 1972. There's a copy on Dave Touretzky's bookshelf site, and a PDF.

I'd put Kangaroo Court (the CoS's reply pamphlet to the Anderson Report) here too, but somehow I don't think the CoS will give permission. Ah well.


Laws banning and unbanning Scientology

Scientology was (ineffectively) banned in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia for various lengths of time.


Australasian Legal Information Institute

You can do searches on keywords in this. (Thanks to andii for putting me onto this one.)

(Searching on 'Scientology' turns up a lot of fluff though ... I'll go through one day and pull the best ones for your amusement. Or someone else could if they like.)


Australian Press Council adjudications relating to Scientology

You can read the full set of Press Council adjudications here.


The Australian Tax Office and deductibility


"WISE Member Named Young Australian Business Person of the Year"

Some propaganda from the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (a way for the CoS to suck money out of public members' businesses).


Census figures: how many Scientologists are there in Australia and New Zealand?

The Census is conducted every five years. The 'Religion' question is the only voluntary one, but that's OK because that's what I'm after: the number of people in Australia who will, when filling in a census form anonymously, say that they do indeed consider themselves Scientologists.

In the 1991 Census, it has become an a.r.s factoid that 1091 people were prepared to admit anonymously to being Scientologists.

(I say 'factoid' because I spent a bit of time in early 1998 trying to track down the origin of this figure and can't trace it. The 1991 Census figures are completely unhelpful unless I care to give far too much money to the Australian Bureau of Statistics for a number my tax dollars have already paid for. Help on confirming or denying this figure of 1091 would be greatly appreciated.)

The 1996 Census figure is 1488. An anonymous post to a.r.s claimed the 1996 figure was 1500. Murray Chapman gives some statistical perspective; 'Ex Scio Kid' gives the West Australian total as not more than 150.

The New Zealand figures are: 1986: 189; 1991: 207; 1996: 213.


Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission on freedom of religion in Australia

The HREOC report Free To Believe? The right to freedom of religion and belief in Australia includes a mention of Scientology, in the context of the above High Court decision being the closest the Australian government has gotten to defining what a religion is and isn't.


Non Fatal Offences Against the Person

A report by a committee put together by the Attorney-General's Department, released in October 1998. Scientology scored a mention.


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