The Australian Press Council has upheld a complaint made by the Exclusive Brethren Church over an article that appeared in Woman's Day on December 1 last year.
The article purported to tell a woman's story about her attempts to leave a church named as the Exclusive Brethren.
In its written decision, the Press Council says "Woman's Day failed to take reasonable steps to check the accuracy of the woman's claims about the Exclusive Brethren, failed to pursue fairness and balance, and failed to make any offer of amends".
Senior Exclusive Brethren member, Phil McNaughton, who filed the complaint, said the Church accepted media scrutiny but asked that all journalists afford it the opportunity to respond to allegations levelled against it or its members.
"The journalist responsible for the article, Glen Williams, told the Press Council that he had not bothered to try and contact the Church because of its 'secretive nature'," Mr McNaughton said.
"I told the Press Council that in the weeks preceding publication of Mr Williams' article, a senior member of our Church, Daniel Hales, was quoted extensively in articles in The Weekend Australian, and on the AAP newswire.
"Mr Hales also gave a lengthy interview on ABC Radio National, while the article in The Weekend Australian mentioned the Church used the public relations firm Jackson Wells.
"This is hardly conduct you would expect from a 'secretive' group.
"A simple Google search would have led Mr Williams to our website, which contains several points of contact, by phone, e-mail and post, and information about the Church that contradicts many of the claims made by the woman featured in the article."
Mr McNaughton said the Church had no knowledge of the woman ever being a Church member.
"Given that her claims are so far from reality, we believe she must have belonged to another Church completely unrelated to the Exclusive Brethren.
"Church members were hurt and offended by the woman's claims that she and her son were subjected to dreadful abuse.
"This was only compounded when we learned the journalist took no steps to verify her claims by contacting us.
"We are peaceful, law abiding, contributing citizens of the communities in which we live.
"We are good family people and we are good neighbours.
"Our basic Christian beliefs are similar to those held by other Christians and it is our view that we are entitled to have these beliefs interpreted fairly and truthfully to other people.
"Too often in the recent past, this has not been the case. The Church, its members, its beliefs and its practices have been misrepresented, in some cases deliberately so.
"We ask any journalist writing about our church to please contact us on the numbers below."
A copy of the Press Council adjudication is attached.
Media contact:
Jackson Wells
Benjamin Haslem 02 9904 4333 or 0408 887 742