Independent South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon will address a conference in Brisbane which claims to be the first specifically organised to help people who have left cults.

Senator Xenophon has been campaigning for an inquiry into the Church of Scientology and its tax exempt status.

They have escaped from a bizarre world of polygamous sex – but the girls of the West Texan sect may soon wish they could return to it, writes Tim Guest, who spent his own childhood in a notorious religious commune himself.

Iranian-born Ms Namazie is a human rights activist whose family fled the country during the 1980 Islamic Revolution. She has frequently challenged religious thinkers for the way she says they try to control the lives of individuals, particularly women. The new group would be an alternative voice to bodies like the Muslim Council of Britain, she told the BBC, saying many people who disagreed with the opinions of religious leaders were scared of speaking out.

A new organisation, representing former Muslims who fear for their lives because they have renounced their faith, is to be launched at Westminster tomorrow.