Australian TV reports that the national Fair Work Ombudsman is alleging the Church of Scientology is guilty of false imprisonment of members and forced labor violating Australian slavery laws.<\/p>\n
The Ombudsman’s\u00a0preliminary report found some Scientology workers paid as little as $10 a week by the church — forcing them to rely on government assistance — despite\u00a0the church’s reported\u00a0earnings of\u00a0more than $17 million in 2009.<\/p>\n
“The allegations … may potentially be a breach of the provisions of the Criminal Code Act 1995 dealing with slavery … the Fair Work Ombudsman will refer the witnesses’ allegations to the relevant authority for further investigation,” Australia’s ABC Television quoted the draft report as saying.<\/p>\n
The church had argued that some members were not covered by the Fair Work Act because they were in holy orders. That defense was rebutted by a former high official in the church — which is atheistic in its doctrines, teaching there is no god and that members can achieve “cleansing” by paying the church large sums for “audits” that remove the debris left from past lives.<\/p>\n