Australian megachurch Hillsong is dealing with contemporary scrutiny after a ruling by the nation’s charity watchdog, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Fee (ACNC), discovered quite a few monetary irregularities at its faculty.
Simply earlier than Christmas, ACNC printed a listing of enforceable undertakings for the faculty, and indicated that the physique was contemplating getting into into comparable agreements for different Hillsong Church charities.
The investigation by the ACNC discovered points with a number of features of operations on the faculty, together with reporting obligations, compliance with monetary and operational record-keeping, governance requirements, and its compliance with the ACNC’s Exterior Conduct Normal. The Exterior Conduct Normal covers the best way a charity manages its abroad actions, together with the necessities for controlling abroad funds and different assets and making certain compliance with Australian legal guidelines.
The church first got here beneath scrutiny from the ACNC in 2023, when Unbiased MP Andrew Wilkie tabled inner Hillsong paperwork within the Australian Parliament which he claimed had been provided to him by a church whistleblower, alleging that the church had damaged “quite a few legal guidelines” in Australia and all over the world, and had engaged in “fraud, cash laundering and tax evasion”.
Talking beneath parliamentary privilege, Mr Wilkie raised quite a few allegations, together with that Hillsong founder and former chief Brian Houston had handled non-public jets “like Ubers”, spending tens of 1000’s of {dollars} in church cash per flight, and that members of the Houston household “and their buddies” had used $150,000 of church cash on a luxurious retreat in Cancun, Mexico, whereas Australia was within the grip of a strict Covid-19 lockdown.
Hillsong Church denied these allegations on the time, saying in a press release that they “are in lots of respects flawed”.
Hillsong School, which boasts greater than 14,000 alumni from over 60 nations, is likely one of the church’s flagship programmes. The church responded to the findings from the ACNC in a press release acknowledging it has been “cooperating with” the regulator.
“As a part of these inquiries, and to exhibit our dedication to steady enchancment in governance, Hillsong Church and its ministries have agreed to resolve the inquiries of the ACNC by getting into into compliance agreements, and for Hillsong School by offering an endeavor,” the assertion says.
The church additionally claimed that “the issues are resolved with out findings of a violation or any noncompliance with the act”.
As a part of the enforceable endeavor, which is a voluntary settlement entered into by a charity beneath investigation, Hillsong School dedicated to bettering its record-keeping and disclosure of conflicts of curiosity, and also will be required to satisfy requirements governing charities relating to their worldwide actions and monetary statements. Failure to stick to the phrases of the voluntary settlement might see the ACNC search a court docket order imposing the phrases, or result in prison expenses being laid.
Wilkie criticised the ACNC’s determination, labelling it as “pathetic”.
“The fee is successfully saying it can overlook in regards to the extraordinary alleged wrongdoing in Hillsong as long as the church guarantees to be good to any extent further,” he informed The Each day Telegraph.
Hillsong was as soon as certainly one of Australia’s most profitable Christian exports, boasting Hollywood celebrities and politicians amongst its members. Nonetheless, its worldwide picture was dented by a scandal involving Hillsong East Coast and New York Metropolis pastor, Carl Lentz, who was identified for his magnetic management and superstar connections. He was fired by the church in 2020 for what they referred to as “management points and breaches of belief, plus a current revelation of ethical failures”.
Nonetheless, the church has been rocked by quite a few different scandals over the previous few years. Brian Houston was pressured to step down as chief of the church after allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards two girls, in addition to substance abuse.
A current tv exposé broadcast in Australia contained quite a few different accusations, together with claims by former members of sexual, emotional, and religious abuse they allegedly suffered whereas attending the church or collaborating in different programmes it runs.
