Modern-Slavery and the Intersection with Cults
Maria Esguerra has authored this article for the CIPNetwork. She is a director of Olive Leaf Network Australia, a practicing psychologist, and a child survivor of a religious cult. She is based in Queensland.
A Discussion on Modern Slavery & Cults in New South Wales Parliament
Yesterday , I (Maria) had the privilege of attending the 2026 New South Wales Anti-Slavery Forum Workshop on Modern Slavery and High Control Groups at New South Wales Parliament, where my co-director of Olive Leaf Network , Mirriam Francis spoke.
To hear this private, highly complex,
and historically siloed issue openly discussed and deeply understood within the halls of Parliament is incredibly validating and fills me with immense hope for systemic change. The forum shed a vital light on how high-control groups weaponise group-based coercive control, forced labour, servitude, and forced marriage.
Here are my key takeaways from the powerful discussions between academics, legal experts, and courageous survivors:
The Power of Systemic Control
Exploitation in these contexts is cumulative, ongoing, and built on an “authority-based” system of spiritual or therapeutic deception. Perpetrators purposely create dependency to make exploitation completely invisible to the outside world.
Threat of Menace
Modern slavery isn’t always physical bars; it is often an invisible cage built on existential debt bondage, “bounded choice,” and a completely shrunken worldview where victims feel they have no other viable choice.
Institutional Vulnerability
High-control environments successfully create their own isolated social systems by exploiting vulnerability, utilising institutional contexts, and establishing an insular reality.
The Critical Gap
The survivor panel highlighted a profound, systemic gap in post-exit support that we must urgently address:
The Therapy Deficit
Many survivors share the heartbreaking experience of seeking help from multiple therapists, only to find them completely unequipped to understand cultic personas, spiritual abuse, or systemic coercive control—leading to endless invalidation.
An Integrated Response
We need an urgent, integrated response between policymakers, frontline caseworkers, and mental health professionals.
The Path Forward - Education, Awareness & Peer Support
To effectively bridge these gaps, the forum emphasised several crucial action items:
Trauma-Informed & Cohort-Specific Care: We cannot treat all survivors with a one-size-fits-all approach. Support must be culturally competent and deeply aware of the specific cohort being served.
Lived Experience Leadership: Peer support saves lives. Elevating and funding lived-experience advocates and trauma-informed specialists with an understanding of high-control dynamics is essential.
Early Intervention: We must shift the heavy burden of proof off the victims through community engagement, better professional education, and widespread awareness of coercive control.
Thank you to the Office of the NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner and all the incredible speakers for organising such a monumental, eye-opening event. The road ahead requires immense work, but yesterday proved that the momentum for change is officially here.
Modern Slavery is a highly relevant topic for those impacted by cults and working with cult survivors as Maria has outlined above. The New Zealand Government currently has a Modern Slavery Bill before Parliament, and is taking submissions until 28 May 2026. While this bill is a great step forward, it mainly focusses on supply chains internationally and is unlikely to cover the worker exploitation occurring on our shores, meaning that cults that operate on New Zealand shores will not be covered under this law. As such, the work of the NSW government to recognise and examine modern slavery in cult settings on Australian soil is a model for New Zealand to consider.
Maria and Mirriam, co-directors of Olive Leaf Network Australia, both also presented to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Cults and Fringe Groups in October 2025.
The Olive Leaf Network Team are lifting their voices at the highest level, identifying gaps in the system for those impacted by high-control groups and are effectively advocating to those who are in a position to bring about change.
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