21st January 2025

Today’s announcement will be the first of a series of announcements covering the various laws that may have been broken by the CFO.

So, here’s how it will work:

1. To make things as simple as possible, our announcements will focus on one area of law at a time.

2. We will answer any questions you have on the Streetcar forum. You can also email any questions to [email protected].
3. We will be starting with privacy laws, and then over the coming two months we’ll move on to other areas of the law, such as:

4. A report to the ACNC (Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission), then

5. A report to the Office of Fair Trading, and finally,
6. We will look at various direct claims for financial compensation, either as individuals or as part of a class action.

7. At each stage, we will provide you with information and practical resources to assist you in participating.

8. Your questions and responses will help us focus on what’s most helpful to you.
9. Please never lose sight of the fact that we need more surveys. We need the text boxes filled with additional details where possible, https://samsonrising.com.au/online-survey/ and we need evidence of any wrongdoing emailed to [email protected].
10. We also have a petition that anyone, including the general public, can sign at any time.

https://www.change.org/p/support-investigations-into-child-abuse-corruption-in-the-christian-fellowship-org?recruiter=1356576461&recruited_by_id=f2291b70-9ca2-11ef-9405-5b6cfe945352&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&utm_medium=copylink

The Privacy Laws

We will be covering the privacy laws in very broad terms to keep things simple. You should always get professional legal advice before you act on anything in this announcement.

Here are two examples of the kind of breaches of privacy that could allow you to claim:

Example 1.

A father goes to see an elder to say he is leaving the CFO. During the meeting, the

Father is asked to give private and sensitive information to the elder. At the time the

Father is living with his children, who all still attend the church. The eldest daughter of the Father is then asked by an Elder to attend a pastoral session at which the Father’s decision to leave the church is discussed.

The daughter returns home and says to the father, ‘I’ve just been told everything you’ve said in your meeting with Elder X.’. The daughter packs her bags and goes to live in a house organized by the elders for other young women.

By passing on the information the Father had given to the Elder in the pastoral session, the Elder has breached the privacy of the Father because the Father did not authorize the release of that private and sensitive information.

If the privacy breach causes emotional distress or financial loss, the father may be able to bring a claim for financial compensation.

Example 2.

A mother decides to leave the CFO. After she leaves, some elders and Home Group leaders spread rumors about the mother, which are either untrue or, at best, represent the opinion about the mother’s private and sensitive information, e.g., that the mother was not a faithful Christian or the mother was not worthy to be a parent to her children because the mother was mentally ill.

The unauthorized release of an opinion about things that fall into the category of private and sensitive information is a breach of privacy, which may give rise to a claim for financial compensation.

In this example, let’s assume the mother does not have any physical evidence to prove there was a breach of privacy by a particular elder or home group leader.

However, let’s now assume that friends and family who subsequently leave the CFO are willing to confirm the privacy breach in a written statement.

These written statements are called affidavits and can be all the evidence that’s required to give rise to a successful claim. We don’t need the written statements now. For now, we’ve prepared a simple questionnaire you can use so our solicitors can assess if you have a claim.

Sensitive information means information or an opinion about an individual’s:

• racial or ethnic origin;
• political opinions;
• membership of a political association;
• religious beliefs or affiliations;
• philosophical beliefs;
• membership of a professional or trade association;
• membership of a trade union;
• sexual preferences or practices;
• criminal record; or
• physical or mental health.

How much financial compensation can I get?

Each situation is different, but our legal team will give you an estimate of the range of financial compensation you may get.

What is the first step in making a claim?

Once you complete the questionnaire, hit the submit button, and the Samson Rising legal team will let you know if you have a claim and estimate what your claim is worth.

All information you give us is completely confidential, and only our solicitors and essential staff from Samson Rising will see the answers in your questionnaire.

All completed questions have more than one benefit.

Even if you don’t proceed with a claim for financial compensation, your questionnaire answers can be of enormous help to the Samson Rising cause. Your questionnaire can be put together with similar questionnaires and form part of a complaint to government authorities. In our complaint to the ACNC and the Office of Fair Trading, we’ll be asking for the windup of the CFO and disqualification of Committee members if they are found to have failed any duty they owed to voting members and the congregation.

At the end of the questionnaire, we ask for your permission to use your completed questionnaire as part of our complaints to authorities.

Will this cost me anything & what happens if I’m not successful with my claim?

Having your questionnaire assessed by our solicitors will not cost you anything, and Samson Legal will only recommend you proceed with your claim if they think your prospects are high. Once they know what your claim is worth and how many others have had their privacy breached, Samson Legal may propose a class action or group action to make your participation affordable and low-risk.

Do I have to proceed once I complete the questionnaire?

No, you do not have to proceed with any claim. You may just want to know your options and stop there.

But you can give permission to use some or all of your questionnaire answers in our complaints to the government authorities.

The choice is entirely yours, and we will respect whatever decision you make.

How can Samson Rising help me if I want to make a claim?

Firstly, you are free to commence your own claim at any time.

However, for those that might want help, Samson Rising can help you write your statement (if one is needed), and we can coordinate with Samson Legal to make things easier.

The first step is for us to find out how many people might be interested and for our legal team to read your completed questionnaire answers.

Will I have to testify in court?

If you decide to go ahead with a claim, most claims settle without the need to go to court. So, you may never need to testify in court.

We’ll know more once we see how many completed questionnaires we get.

Once you receive advice from Samson Legal, you are not under any pressure to proceed.

Summary

While making a claim for financial compensation may not be for everyone, we’d like you to know your options. To do that, we need you to complete the questionnaire.

Either way, we hope you’ll allow us to include your completed questionnaire form as part of our complaints to government authorities.

If you can help us with this, we think we can help you achieve your preferred outcome.

On behalf of the Team

Samson