IT was a rare and at times dramatic public appearance by one of the most senior members of a global religious organisation that shrouds itself in secrecy. Surrounded by supporters, senior Scientologist Janice Meyer arrived at the Downing Centre Local Court yesterday, accused of pressuring an 11-year-old girl to lie about sex abuse within the church. Ms Meyer, who also goes by the name Jan Eastgate, left with relaxed bail restrictions that will allow her to travel to and from her ...

Inside the Church of Scientology What's the Church of Scientology all about? Sunday Herald Sun reporter Hamish Heard joined to find out. AFTER barely an hour in the Church of Scientology's new Melbourne headquarters the verdict is in: I am deeply flawed. It appears I am in denial of a deep-seated depression, I am close to unlikable and a decade and a half of social indulgence has left me borderline dim. On the plus side, Mark - my new mentor in ...

[Picture / Caption: The Church of Scientology building in Mt Alexander Rd, Ascot Vale. Picture: Ian Currie Source: Sunday Herald Sun ] SCIENTOLOGISTS from around the world are expected to land in Melbourne this week ahead of the opening of a new multi-million dollar Scientology church. But the church has hosed down speculation that high-profile devotees John Travolta and Tom Cruise would be among the Scientologists in town to celebrate the opening of the Ascot Vale facility this weekend. Reports surfaced ...

[...] Unfair aspersions against Scientology It is disappointing that an article highlighting a charity's alleged breach of Fair Trading regulations should focus on non-existent links with the Scientology religion ("Refugee volunteers tell of Scientology influence", January 17). The article quotes the founder of the Australian League of Immigration Volunteers, Gary Taylor, as saying Scientology was one of a few religions he had spent some time with as a younger man. Beyond that, the only link to Scientology is based on ...

A CHARITY that recruits volunteers to run recreational activities at detention centres is on the brink of deregistration for failing to provide a single financial statement to Fair Trading NSW since it was formally created in 2003. Fair Trading wrote to the founder of the Australian League of Immigration Volunteers, Gary Taylor, on December 15, demanding he lodge the documents within 28 days. But it has received no response. Advertisement: Story continues below The Herald understands Fair Trading wrote again last ...

AUSTRALIAN of the Year Prof Patrick McGorry is among a number of top psychiatrists who have been targeted by the Church of Scientology after they spoke out against the religion. The University of Melbourne professor, with Monash University's Prof Louise Newman and Prof Ian Hickie, director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute at the University of Sydney, publicly backed calls by South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon in March for a senate inquiry into Scientology. They have since received requests under ...

The industrial inspectorate has confirmed it is investigating the employment practices of the Church of Scientology. Fair Work Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson told a Senate estimates hearing it had looked into the controversial religious group but declined to give details. It is understood opposition frontbencher Eric Abetz wrote to the ombudsman in March with the idea of an inquiry. The inspectorate has subsequently interviewed Scientology members along the east coast of Australia to establish whether they are being properly remunerated for their ...

RUSSIA is set to ban dozens of texts and recordings by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. "Materials on Scientology by Ron Hubbard have been found extremist and will be banned from distribution in Russia," the Russian prosecutor general's office said in a statement. The ban relates to 28 books and audio-video discs containing lectures by Hubbard, a US science fiction author who founded Scientology in 1954. The ruling was the latest blow to the Church of Scientology, an organisation that some ...

When allegations emerged that shonky insulation installers operating under the Federal Government's home insulation program had exposed householders to the risk of fires and workers to injury or death, the Liberal and National Parties promptly referred the matter to a Senate inquiry. And when trade unions claimed that Australia Post was cutting its workers compensation costs by using company doctors to force injured employees back to work prematurely, the Labor Party was more than willing to ask a Senate committee to ...

A LEAFLET advertising the Athena School in Newtown has been referred to the state's consumer watchdog for allegedly obscuring the school's link to Scientology. The NSW Greens yesterday lodged a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, claiming the leaflet represented false advertising and a potential breach of the Trade Practices Act. The Applied Scholastics logo, the education arm of Scientology, appears in the bottom corner of the leaflet, which includes the words ''education services and materials based on the ...

You quote John Kaye's statement to Parliament about the former Scientology leader Marty Rathbun ("Intimidating and violent: defector", December 2). Mr Rathbun was removed from his position related to legal and public relations matters in the US in 1993, after having inexplicably deserted his post. He later returned and worked his way back into legal affairs. By 2002 his malfeasance became apparent and he was removed from any position of executive authority. The internal investigation leading to his removal also ...

A MELBOURNE school linked to the controversial Church of Scientology received $300,000 in funding from the federal stimulus package. Yarralinda, in Mooroolbark, is one of two schools in Australia that uses the teaching methods of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd recently expressed concerns about the Church of Scientology after independent senator Nick Xenophon made serious claims against the organisation under parliamentary privilege. Last week, the State Government told its schools not to distribute materials by a Scientology-funded ...

A former Scientology leader says bullying is widespread in the church, writes investigations reporter Nick O'Malley. Coerced abortion, violence, intimidation and demands for ever greater "donations" have become unofficial Church of Scientology policy, beginning at its Florida head office and leaching around the world, the church's most senior defector has said. Marty Rathbun, who until 2004 was the church's second-most powerful man, answering only to the present leader, David Miscavige, said the church leadership was obsessed with destroying dissent and increasing ...

FEWER than 100 children will benefit from more than $1.6 million in Federal Government subsidies over four years to two schools strongly linked to the Scientology movement. The Athena School in Newtown will receive $751,519 in recurrent funding from the Federal Government for the 2009 to 2012 funding period. It has also been allocated $135,287 for a new library, $114,713 for primary classroom refurbishments and $50,000 for other refurbishments under the Rudd Government's Building the Education Revolution program. The Athena School ...

[Picture / Caption: Carly Crutchfield, CEO of Ccorp at the 'Massive Results Bootcamp' the Gold Coast.] Scientologists are using a get-rich-quick seminar at the Gold Coast this weekend to groom potential new members for the controversial church, say former members. Carly Crutchfield, the key speaker at a 'Massive Results Bootcamp seminar' at the Hyatt Regency Hotel Sanctuary Cove confirmed that she and two other main speakers are Church of Scientology members. She said the others speakers were Gareth Jekel, a business ...

THE PRIME MINISTER, Kevin Rudd, has expressed concern about the Church of Scientology but will provide subsidies worth more than $1 million to a Sydney school that promotes the teaching of the church's founder, L.Ron Hubbard. Mr Rudd said he shared some of the concerns of the independent senator Nick Xenophon, who used parliamentary privilege last week to level allegations of torture, perjury and financial coercion against the church. Newtown's Athena School is licensed by Applied Scholastics International, which is strongly ...

THE celebrity-studded Church of Scientology in Australia wants negative media reports about the controversial religion outlawed. Scientology, which boasts members including Tom Cruise, said it wanted a law "to prevent the dissemination of anti-religious propaganda in the media, which is based on unfounded hearsay and either known or reasonably known to be untruthful". Churches and individuals who have been "defamed" should be able to sue for damages, the religious organisation said in a submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission. Scientology ...

AN army private found dead in mysterious circumstances had been bullied by others for refusing to get drunk, a court has been told. Edward Alexander McBride, 30, was found hanging from a rope at the Energex substation in Brisbane's Everton Park on February 7, 2007. The cause of death was found to be electrocution. An inquest into his death got underway in the Brisbane Coroners Court today, where evidence was heard that Mr McBride had been the victim of bullying while ...

THE Church of Scientology has angrily denied that high-profile follower John Travolta allegedly blames it for not being able to prevent his son’s death. Tabloid reports earlier this week claimed Travolta had become a “bitter recluse” after the death of his son Jett, 16, who was believed to have suffered from autism. Britain’s Mail on Sunday claimed church insiders had said Travolta bitterly regretted adhering to Scientology’s teachings when treating his son's condition and had threatened to quit the secretive church. ...

KATIE Holmes is about to start filming her new movie, Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark, but some questions from the crew will not be allowed. The Batman Begins actor will begin filming on the closed Docklands set this week, as she, husband Tom Cruise and daughter Suri continue to explore Melbourne's sights and stores. One film source from the set said that each crew member had signed agreements saying they would not ask the superstar about her religion, Scientology. The ...

COMING to a doctor's surgery near you: a sparky little DVD, saying "psychiatrists occupy the lowest rung of the medical profession", has been dispatched to GPs across Australia. The DVD says that psychiatrists are money-grubbing quacks who invent diseases so that they can become rich by prescribing drugs. Those evil dudes also kill 3000 people a month by prescribing psychotropic drugs, it says. While Tom Cruise's comely visage does not feature on the DVD, it is the product of that crazy ...

MORE than 15,000 schoolies on an annual party invasion will be bombarded with safe sex and anti-drug messages. A drug information booklet sponsored by the Church of Scientology, and free condoms from a health provider will be available to school-leavers letting off steam when official celebrations start on Saturday. About 7000 Victorians will flock to the Gold Coast, at least 5000 will party at Lorne and Torquay, and up to 3000 teens are anticipated at Phillip Island after exams finish today. ...

THE Church of Scientology has lost its grip on James Packer. The billionaire's closest friends have revealed that he has quietly distanced himself from Scientology, labelled a cult by some former members, as it faces international controversy about its anti-psychiatry stance. Members of Mr Packer's inner circle have confirmed that the billionaire, who had ranked as Scientology's wealthiest member in the world, was no longer undertaking Scientology courses and had slowly moved away from the religion, telling his closest friends he ...

THE Church of Scientology has spent more than $7 million on a new Victorian headquarters and prayer facility in northern Melbourne. The controversial church has also quietly put out the feelers on selling its landmark five-storey Russell St building, which is expected to fetch about $7.5 million. Scientology officials would not comment on claims that James Packer - who allegedly has links to the church through his friendship with movie star and Scientologist Tom Cruise - had helped finance the new ...