The New Religious Movement called “The Family” was founded by Anne Hamilton-Byrne (1921–2019) in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia. Hamilton-Byrne taught that she was Jesus Christ and proclaimed her first follower, Dr. Raynor Johnson, to be John the Baptist. The Family combined Christian, Hindu, and New Age ideas with the use of psychedelic drugs, and an eschatological focus on the emergence of a new society after the destruction of the present era. The Family first came to media prominence in 1987 as a result of police investigations, and more recent memoirs and documentaries have also generated media interest around Hamilton-Byrne and her movement. This article discusses The Family and the leadership of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, exploring the role of the media in consolidating her powerful image and in revealing deeply held concerns about “folk devils,” “brainwashing cults,” and maternal and spiritual deviancy in twenty-first century Australia.

Universal Medicine, founded by Serge Benhayon (b. 1964), is an Australian movement offering a distinct style of alternative therapies. It is supported by an esoteric worldview called The Way of the Livingness. Occult beliefs and practices are poorly understood in Western cultures such as Australia, and Benhayon has encountered sustained criticism on a range of issues commonly faced by other new religions. Public reaction betrays fears of secretive and inappropriate activities, which are amplified by the Australian media’s penchant for targeting cult activities. While Universal Medicine pursues practices that would pass without comment in other national contexts, its organization, visibility, and esoteric pursuits make it an easy target for polemics in Australia. This article explores key aspects of The Way of the Livingness and outlines Universal Medicine’s founding and organizational structure. The movement is further contextualized within the Theosophical tradition following Alice A. Bailey (1880–1849), ideas from the New Age, and Australian culture.