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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-06-04 Daily Xml
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MERCY MINISTRIES

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (15:32): In my last contribution, I talked about Mercy Ministries and its appalling treatment of young women who were in need of care. Subsequent to that, I was approached by a number of young women who told their stories about the treatment they received at the hands of the Mercy Ministries. I would like to tell the story of one of those young women. However, she fears retribution from the Mercy Ministries so, for her protection, I will today call her Anna Roberts. Her story is as follows:

When I accepted a place at Mercy Ministries, I had no idea that I was walking into a cult. As a regular churchgoer, I had heard a lot about Hillsong. I had most of their CDs with Darlene Zschech's image on them. So, when I heard that Hillsong was involved in Mercy Ministries, and that Darlene was actually the CEO of Mercy Ministries at the time, I had no reason to doubt that it was a legitimate organisation. In my mind, Hillsong, after all, had a good reputation.

Going to Mercy Ministries was by no means an easy decision, and not one I took lightly. I was studying at university and was under very good treatment at home. But the promise of a Christian program with 24/7 care by qualified professionals who could treat mental illness for free seemed too good to just ignore. Before applying, I had contacted the Mercy Ministries office in Sydney to find out as much as I could about the program. I was told that the staff caring for the young women were qualified to treat mental illness and that the counsellors were all qualified also. Armed with that information and a printout about its program, I went to my family, my Christian counsellor and doctor, and discussed my option to go into treatment at Mercy Ministries with them.

The main drawcards for me were that I could have access to qualified professionals 24/7 whenever I needed them, and also that the program was Christian. It sounded much too good to be true and, unfortunately for me, it was. I went into the program with the perception that I knew what I was getting into. All conversations with the Mercy Ministries staff up to that point—and indeed all of its advertising materials—presented Mercy Ministries as a Christian 'live-in' treatment centre where professional treatment, coupled also with Christian teachings, assisted young women to recover from their illnesses.

In actual fact, the picture painted in my mind of what Mercy may be like and the kind of treatment they may offer was very far removed from the reality of what the program was. When I got to Mercy Ministries, I had the Resident's Handbook thrust into my hands. I remember reading it and wondering why they were suddenly taking away any independence and self-management I had. It is true that I went to the program seeking treatment for my illness which I was coping with but at the same time I knew it was holding me back. I had been responsible for seeking support from professionals in the past, I was studying at university, and yet it seemed like Mercy Ministries were trying to revert me into being totally dependent, totally controlled and a child who was not trusted to make her own responsible decisions.

There is no doubt that residential treatment centres need basic rules to keep things running smoothly but this went well beyond basic rules, even down to telling residents what to wear (i.e. no trousers allowed at church). As time went on, I also found there were many unwritten rules such as no speaking with volunteers about the day-to-day running of the house. Mercy Ministries soon arranged for my Centrelink payments to be deposited into their account. I was a little surprised that they would advertise that the program was provided at no charge to young women and claimed they needed more donations to be able to treat young women when in fact they were taking significant payment for their services from the young women themselves. I wasn't too upset, though, after all I think it is only fair for a young woman to pay her own way, and I held on to the promise that I was going to be treated by qualified staff.

I did feel that Mercy Ministries might have been taking advantage of well-meaning members of the public when asking for donations, however. Back then their advertising campaign was not as large as it is today. You could sit down and have a coffee without being splashed with Mercy Ministries propaganda with false promises about their program and asking for more money. As time went on it became apparent that the staff caring for me were not qualified to treat medical and psychiatric illness at all. I learned that some of them had been to Bible College and that was the extent of their qualifications.

By this stage, I was very confused about the kind of program that Mercy Ministries was. I had been forbidden from being treated by my own counsellor from home. The only counselling allowed was to be done by Mercy Ministries counsellors. I had been there for perhaps 1½ or two weeks and I had still not met my counsellor. Surely she would be qualified as promised. My Mercy Ministries counsellor turned out to be unqualified and unregistered. By this stage I had given up so much to be at Mercy Ministries, tying up loose ends at home—after all, I was told to expect to be at Mercy Ministries for approximately 12 months—turning down job opportunities, deferring my university studies and directing all of my payments into Mercy Ministries accounts.

I had invested so much that I didn't feel like I could just go home, even though in hindsight I wish I had. The indoctrination, even after a short while, had taken its toll.

Given the time constraints, I may continue this exposition of Mercy Ministries at my next contribution.

Time expired.

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