The Cult of the Family
What went down inside The Family?
4.7 (23)
52 mins
Discover the disturbing story of The Family, a secretive Australian cult built around charismatic leader Anne Hamilton-Byrne. Explore how she convinced followers that she possessed spiritual authority, adopted children, and created an isolated world governed by strict rules and psychological control.
Ep 1:
Birth of a False Goddess
From a broken childhood to a yoga studio con, discover how Evelyn Edwards reinvented herself as Anne Hamilton-Byrne and began recruiting Australia's elite into a dangerous new faith.
Ep 2:
The Hospital, the Prophecy, and the Compound
Armed with a stolen psychiatric hospital and a doomsday prophecy, Anne begins stealing babies and imprisoning 28 children behind barbed wire, subjecting them to starvation, drugs, and torture.
Ep 3:
Justice Denied at Up Top
Teenage rebellion finally exposes The Family's horrors, but as survivors fight for justice, a shockingly light sentence leaves victims asking what the point of it all was.
Discussions (5)
Joe
Level 2 · 1 week agoAnne wore fake pregnant belly for YEARS and nobody noticed??
Ralph
Level 2 · 1 week agoAnne Hamilton-Byrne died June 13 2019 aged 97 not 98. Born Dec 26 1921.
Brody
Level 9 · 1 week agoTwo doctors' signatures to commit someone involuntarily in 1970s Australia checks out. Mental Health Act 1959 Victoria made that possible and it wasn't reformed until 1986.
