The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters has been conducting a review of the 2025 election.
On 24 June 2026, the Committee agreed to re-invite the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (informally known as the Plymouth Brethren or PBCC), and Advance (previously known as Advance Australia) to give evidence before a hearing of the Committee. This is after both groups declined to appear at previous hearings in November 2025, and March and May 2026.
Given multiple attempts have been made to have these witnesses appear before the Committee, the Committee has also resolved to issue a summons to compel their attendance if witnesses continue to decline these invitations.
The Committee acknowledges that this is an extraordinary step, but one it believes necessary.
Preliminary analysis of Committee evidence shows that over 75 published submissions to JSCEM mention the Plymouth Brethren, and note their presence in approximately 80 different suburbs in federal electorates across Australia.
Given the volume of submissions the Committee has received, and the level of community concern about their involvement in the electoral process, it is not just in the Committee’s interest, but Australia’s interest, to understand the involvement of both of these third parties in the 2025 federal election and their influence on the electoral process.
Information on the hearings will be made available on the Committee’s Public Hearings webpage as they are finalised.
Jerome Laxale
Chair, Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters
25 June 2026
