Bree* doesn’t know how much longer she can continue living with her sister, Anna*, who she says has been involved for several years with Australian branches of the Shincheonji church – described by former members as a cult.

Bree says her sister wakes up at 6am and goes straight to church activities, often not returning home until after midnight, exhausted. She describes Anna as constantly on her phone, texting other church members, including members she says she has freshly recruited.

“Often she comes home so burnt-out,” Bree says. “She’s so tired that she’s doing stuff like burning food … She’s been in a collision with other vehicles in two incidents. She is so wiped out and exhausted.”

Shincheonji originated in South Korea, but the church has locations throughout the world including in major Australian cities and some regional locations. The church is registered as a not-for-profit charity, making it eligible for tax exemptions.

Members believe they are destined for heaven, with everyone else doomed to eternal hell. Membership allows access to secret knowledge of the kingdom of heaven and the one true interpretation of the Bible, members believe.

The Australian branch of Shincheonji did not respond to questions from Guardian Australia, but international chapters have previously denied that the church is a cult. On its global website, the church describes itself as “a temple of god… The Lord of Shincheonji is Jesus Christ who was slain”.

Like many Shincheonji recruits, Anna was targeted while at university, Bree says. Several Australian universities have recently expressed concern about church members pretending to be students in order to recruit. In some cases, church members are using rooms on campus to run recruitment sessions described as youth events, without revealing links to the group.

Bree doesn’t know exactly when Anna dropped out of university to dedicate more hours to the church. She says she is broke, often asking Bree to borrow money. Bree finds Anna’s erratic behaviour and coming and going at all hours difficult to endure.

But she feels if Anna moves out, she may lose her for good, given the Shincheonji church discourages contact with outsiders and even encourages members to live together in sharehouses.

“I don’t know if I can live with her any more, but she needs family to fall back on if she ever decides to leave,” Anna says. “I love her very much, and I hope she leaves this group soon, for the sake of her mental and physical health.”

The Australian Catholic University (ACU) deputy vice-chancellor, Prof Julie Cogin, says last semester she was alerted that the number of approaches by Shincheonji recruiters at the Melbourne campus were increasing.

“Followers have approached students with a harmless-sounding request for directions, about doing a survey or going for a coffee,” she says.

“Initial approaches are often made in our campus libraries or cafes, often from someone who isn’t an ACU student, who then encourages them to attend activities away from campus, sometimes referred to as ‘Bible studies’ but without any details provided.

“What appears to be an innocent outreach of friendship can become manipulative, drawing people away from their family, friends and trusted networks, developing into demands for huge commitments of time and even money.”

One former church member and recruiter told Guardian Australia: “They love first-year students, they call them ‘freshies’.

“And when the universities have their open day for all these first-year students, recruiters come on to campus, and they go around, looking at all the campus clubs for recruits.”

Figures presented to Brisbane members at a leadership meeting in August 2024, seen by Guardian Australia, revealed about 700 members in Sydney, 350 in Brisbane, 1,200 in Melbourne, 210 in Adelaide and 400 in Perth.

According to former members and recruitment material seen by Guardian Australia, their tactics involve approaching people in cafes, in the city, on dating apps or on university campuses and inviting them to social events.

A spokesperson for the University of Western Australia said the university is “currently investigating claims that a Korean Christian group has been targeting students on its campus, including the unauthorised use of campus facilities”.

The recruitment process also involves trawling through the recruit’s social media accounts and ensuring constant contact, check-ins and catchups to a degree that socialising with anyone other than church leaders becomes difficult, even expressly forbidden, recruitment materials show.

Videos show new recruits being instructed to turn off the location on their phones so their parents cannot track them. They are told this is necessary to avoid “persecution” by people who don’t believe. According to former members, the name Shincheonji is only revealed after recruits attend months of Bible study sessions and pass a lengthy 300-question exam to prove they have fully adopted the church’s beliefs.

Former members spoke of pressure among senior church members to donate money to the church, with one former member and university student describing donating his entire savings – at least $8,000.

These and other tactics are why Bree and former members of the church who spoke to Guardian Australia say they want the federal attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, to introduce legislation to make it a criminal offence for religious groups and other organisations to exert coercive control over members.

Cogin says while the ACU “respects all people’s right to their beliefs and freedoms”, the university is “concerned about any organisation that seeks to coerce and control its members and is secretive about its existence and motivations”.

“The university sent an email to staff and students in May alerting them to the activities of Shincheonji, encouraging them to be vigilant,” she says.

Students were advised to protect their physical and emotional safety from unwanted approaches, including being careful about revealing too much personal information.

New South Wales was the first jurisdiction to introduce laws that make coercive control a standalone criminal offence, but these only apply within the context of intimate partner relationships. Queensland will follow in 2025. Other states have outlawed elements of coercive control, again only in the context of domestic relationships.

Former Shincheonji member Diane Nguyen filed a petition to parliament in September, calling on the government to legislate against coercive control by organisations.

“No group or individual should be allowed to use deceptive, manipulative or coercive methods that restricts a person’s ability to make informed decisions about their beliefs,” the petition states, describing Schinjeonji as a “pseudo-Christian cult” that recruits members through “non-denominational Bible studies” and takes months to disclose its real identity.

It goes on to make a number of allegations about the group based on claims from former members, including that they were subjected to sleep deprivation and “discipline” involving verbal and emotional abuse.

“Australian law must change to make coercive control methods illegal by any group,” it states.

The criminalisation of coercive control is primarily a matter for state and territory governments, a spokesperson for Dreyfus said.

Nguyen says she feels despair for those who continue to be recruited and those still inside. She describes the group as a “doomsday cult”.

“I feel like some members… couldn’t make it out,” she says. “All their friends are in there, and even if they got out, they have no one on the outside to help.”

Dr Gillie Jenkinson, a psychotherapist and counsellor who has written a book about coercive control used by cults and how to escape it, says members of cults often feel guilt upon leaving, especially if they helped to recruit others.

“There is often sadness for those who are left behind,” she says.

Based in the UK, Jenkinson was in Australia in September to run workshops for former cult members, and says she has worked with a number of former members of Shincheonji and their families.

“I am passionate about seeing the law changed – in any country – to include coercive control in groups and not just intimate relationships,” she says.

* Names have been changed

Do you know more? Contact melissa.davey@theguardian.com

• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org