How Australia Is Taking Down Scientology on 'Scientology and the Aftermath'

On Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, Australian reporter, Bryan Seymour, explained to Leah Remini how he exposed years of abuse experienced by one young Australian man indoctrinated into Scientology at an early age. Shane Kelsey spent years in the church and only left when he was 18. He was sent to the Rehabilitation Project Force, which is where you go if you are being punished by the church. You are sent there to do hard manual labor, for instance scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush. He wasn't allowed to read any books other than Scientology books and he had never seen the internet.

Australian politician, Nick Xenophon saw Seymour's stories about The Church of Scientology and he wanted to help Seymour in exposing more abuse, but the Church of Scientology is famous for suing those who speak out. Xenophon comes up with the idea that he would tell Seymour's story in Parliament. Under parliamentary privilege you can't be sued.

According to Seymour, as a result of Xenophon's speech which as basically a laundry list of abuse that people had suffered, Australia got its first Charities Commission where Scientology now has to pay taxes. The Charities Commission requires that Scientology and all other churches publish their audited financial accounts so that what was once secret for decades is now in public view. And due to that kind of transparency, the Church of Scientology in Australia took a major financial hit. Between 2014 and 2015, their revenue dropped $20 million to just over $10 million.