Scientology Australia spills its guts
For several years, one of Australia’s crusading senators, covered closely by one of the country’s most dogged television reporters, put pressure on the Church of Scientology to face more regulation with the creation of a national charities commission.
That effort paid off yesterday in a big way when Scientology’s internal financial reports were revealed for the first time by the Australian press, providing a rare look at how the organization is faring in that country.
We have those reports for you to go through, as well as some help understanding them from former Scientology spokesman (and native Australian) Mike Rinder.
But first, we want to remind people how we got here, and why Australia, at least, is regulating Scientology in a way that certainly isn’t happening in the United States.
Over a period from 2007 that lasted more than four years, television journalist Bryan Seymour pounded Scientology with investigative coverage which showed how lax Australian tax regulations were being used by the church to get around stricter regulations in places like the UK and elsewhere.
A conversation with independent Senator Nick Xenophon led to the Adelaide lawmaker going public with his concerns about Scientology, and his support for a charities commission that would regulate non-profits like Scientology to make sure that they were providing some kind of public benefit.
Less than two weeks later, on May 23, 2011, Scientology in Australia reorganized itself. It became a non-profit type known as a “company limited by guarantee.” By law, that meant that Scientology would have to open up its books, but to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and not to the newly formed charities commission.
Scientology’s annual financial reports for 2011 and 2012 were submitted to ASIC, and those were made public yesterday by the Australian press. We have both reports for you.
We asked Seymour why he thought Scientology had changed its corporate structure, forcing it to divulge its financial health.
“If the charities commission had not been set up, Scientology would not have re-incorporated and handed over their accounts,” Seymour says. “I’ve asked the charities commission to review the article published today and if they will launch an investigation into the unexplained losses and where Scientology’s money is going. Either way — Scientology will, for the first time in Australia, be scrutinised for what it really is: A business, operated as a cult, masquerading as a religion.”
The Herald Sun and 9News.com each reported that despite only 2,163 Scientologists in the country according to the most recent census, the organization took in $33.1 million in revenue over the two years, 2011 and 2012, but still managed to lose money each year — $136,375 in 2011, and $169,156 in 2012.
Some of that revenue over two years was in the form of interest on Scientology’s investments, but $4.3 million was in donations, and $3.4 million in book sales. (Scientologists are under intense pressure to spend freely on both books and other materials, and to make large donations.)
The Herald Sun points out that the opening of a new “Ideal Org” in Melbourne in 2011 appears to have resulted in a significant increase in “minor” course completions that year, but the next year that subsided. Mike Rinder noticed other interesting trends in the detailed reports. But he was also concerned by what he didn’t find in them.
“This is really hard to sort out because they spun off Melbourne, according to their 2012 report, as of 1 October 2012,” Rinder explained to us in an email. “So, do these two years compare? I have no idea.”
He was also concerned that some detailed breakdowns of revenue present in the 2011 report were missing in 2012.
“The 2012 report doesn’t include the most interesting figures in the 2011 report, which are on page 12 — The total receipts for auditing and training, for book sales and straight donations. The total contributions from parishioners went down from $16.2 million in 2011 to $13.1 million in 2012 even though the fundraising for the ‘Sydney Ideal Org’ (which opened in 2014) was going ‘full blast,’ and the Melbourne Ideal Org was supposedly expanding out the roof,” he says.
“But it is definitely true that these figures are for all churches in Australia, including the Advanced Org and the CLO. The other figures of interest are on page two of the 2012 report. Despite the new Ideal Org in Melbourne ‘parishioners completing major courses’ declined by 9 percent. After that drop, they only increased 5 percent in 2012 — in other words, they did not even recover to the level of 2010,” he adds.
Seymour pointed out that Scientology did make an annual information report to the charities commission, and in it the organization claims that it has zero employees, but 500 volunteers.
Scientology, in other words, is calling “volunteers” its org staff members, as well as its incredibly dedicated “Sea Org” workers, who sign billion-year contracts, work around the clock for pennies an hour, and may be separated from family for years at a time without a single day off a year.
“The total volunteer allowances and volunteer welfare expenses for 2011 and 2012 for what Bryan says are ‘500 volunteers’ are $4,354,198 for 2011 and $3,827,144 for 2012,” Rinder points out. “Presumably this means there were fewer volunteers in 2012 than in 2011. But just calculating a ballpark figure, this means that the pay for all staff and living expenses for all Sea Org workers comes to $73,000 per week. If this is for 500 people, that’s $147 per person per week for pay, food, living, healthcare, uniforms etc. And some of those are not Sea Org, so the outlay is not covering their living expenses. So, at best, if there are no Sea Org, the average wage of all staff in Australia is $147/week. And if they are all Sea Org then they are spending $147/week for full time, 7 day a week labor that are obviously not receiving medical care and are living in squalor and eating rice and beans. The truth lies somewhere between the two.”
The Herald Sun reported that Scientology Australia’s spokeswoman, Virginia Stewart, tried to make the stagnated numbers look like the result of massive expansion: “Operating losses can happen, especially during periods when the church is expanding its outreach activities, increasing its service facilities and community programs,” she said. “We have planning in progress for other locations of our churches in Australia and Asia.”
If you haven’t read our story about Virginia Stewart and disconnection, please do.
Our commenting community includes some top-notch experts on Scientology’s finances, including former financial executives who worked in the Sea Org, and we look forward to what you can glean from these reports
http://tonyortega.org/2015/02/23/sc...ou-can-thank-bryan-seymour-and-nick-xenophon/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/256613176/Scientology-Australia-Financial-Report-2011
http://www.scribd.com/doc/256613358/Scientology-Australia-Financial-Report-2012