Controversy
In March 2008, a series of special reports were published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that threw the spotlight on the activities of Mercy Ministries -- including claims from a number of former clients that they were mistreated.
These women made claims that Mercy Ministries had misrepresented the nature of their services and that instead of receiving counselling from qualified professionals they were instead offered biblically-based 'counselling' offered by bible studies students. There were allegations made that treatments included exorcisms and prayer readings in the treatment of these women.
Mercy Ministries was also criticised by the former clients about their living conditions and rules at Mercy Ministries, which sometimes involved intensive monitoring of clients' activities and disallowing contact between clients. Some who had been expelled from the treatment program after breaching these rules also claimed they were ejected without warning and left with no follow-up care or support.
Further articles examined the sponsorship of Mercy Ministries by a number of companies, and the linkages between Mercy Ministries and both Gloria Jean's Coffees and the Hillsong mega-church. Since the controversy, several of Mercy Ministries' sponsors have publicly severed their sponsorship.
Peter Irvine (a director of Mercy Ministries and co-founder of Gloria Jean's Coffees) responded to the allegations against Mercy Ministries in a statement, saying that Mercy Ministries had received "overwhelming positive feedback from graduates, their families and the community" and that clients were made aware of the details of the programs before they joined.
And while Mercy claims to offer 'free' treatment, allegations were also made that women in treatment at Mercy Ministries had to sign-over Centrelink payments to the organisation. This prompted the Australian Democrats to call for an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over whether Mercy Ministries has possibly breached the Trade Practices Act, including allegations that it mislead clients into believing that the program would professional medical and psychiatric care for their patients, and that it was free of charge.
However, it's not the first time that Mercy Ministries has been criticised over its treatments. Nor is it the first time that Gloria Jean's has been in hot water (pardon the pun) over sponsoring Mercy Ministries.
In November 2007, the website Crikey! ran a story about the concerns some staff at Borders bookstores had in running Gloria Jean's Coffee's Cappucino for a Cause Day over allegations that Mercy Ministries was anti-gay and anti-abortion. The anti-gay stance of Mercy Ministries was confirmed in an interview with SX Magazine on 21 November 2007.
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