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The beginning - The cult began in 1964, when Raynor Johnson and Anne Hamilton-Byrne began giving yoga lessons to locals in their area.

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Santiniketan - They owned a property called Santiniketan, located at Ferny Creek in the Dandenong Ranges on the eastern outskirts of Melbourne.

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Nurses - The group consisted of middle class professionals. It has been estimated that a quarter were nurses and other medical personnel and that many were recruited by Johnson, who referred them to Hamilton-Byrne's yoga classes

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The Family - The spiritual belief systems of The Family  were an eclectic mixture of Christianity, Hinduism and other Eastern and Western religions on the principle that spiritual truths are universal.

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Jesus complex - Anne Hamilton-Byrne proclaimed she was the female reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

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Vision - While under the influence of LSD, Anne Hamilton-Byrne claimed she had a vision and needed to save as many children from the coming global apocalypse.

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Children - She acquired 14 babies and young children between about 1968 and 1975 in order to 'save' them.

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Dubious means - Some of the children were the natural offspring of members of The Family. Others had been obtained through irregular adoptions arranged by lawyers, doctors, and social workers within the group who could bypass the normal processes.

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Master race - The idea was for The Family to become a master race after the apocalypse and lead humanity into a new era.

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Lost - By the end of the cult, 28 children had allegedly been taken and raised by the sect. They were dressed identically and had their hair bleached blond.

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Documentary - The children who grew up in the cult are the subject of a documentary that was released in 2016. The film highlights the atrocities the children had to endure growing up in the cult.

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Book - Additionally, a book called 'The Family', written by Rosie Jones and Chris Johnston, exposes what life was like within the sect.

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Testimonials - The book contains testimonials from ex-followers and children.

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Acid - The book alleges that the children were given LSD in order to control them.

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Absolute power - Hamilton-Byrne would regularly beat the children for breaking her rules. She also had the other women known as 'Aunties' beat them in her absence.

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Rules - According to the survivors, the rules were constantly changing so it was an impossible situation to succeed in.

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Unhappy - The children were not allowed to say they were unhappy. They learned to be helpless, while the adults had absolute power.

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Child abuse - The cult continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s until was hit by child abuse allegations.

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Hungry - The cult also allegedly deprived the children of food.

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Cover up - When workmen would come to the property the children were instructed to act "retarded" in order to cover up the cult.

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Workmen - Workmen would assume the house was a care facility for mentally disabled children.

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Tricks - They were taught to roll their heads, put their heads on one side, talk nonsense, garble noises, and act uncoordinated.

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Police - Eventually, the police had enough evidence to investigate. Victorian police raided the cult in 1987 and all children were removed from the premises.

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Sarah Hamilton-Byrne - Sarah Hamilton-Byrne, one of the children in the camp, was expelled by her adoptive mother in 1987. She played an instrumental role in getting the police to intervene.

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Shattered lives - Anne Hamilton-Bryne's children still live every day with the horrors they survived.

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Adopted - Some of the survivors are still trying to track down their birth parents after being snatched from hospitals and adopted under dubious pretenses.

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Bleached - The children's hair was bleached to make them believe they were all brothers and sisters.

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No justice - The cult leaders never faced jail. Instead, they were simply handed a $5,000 fine.

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Dementia - Today, Anne Hamilton-Byrne suffers from dementia. She has never explained why she was so cruel to these poor children.

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