Christian leaders have cautioned against creating coercive control laws for cults over fears legitimate religious groups could be captured.

Methods used by cults and organised fringe groups to recruit and control members, are being probed by a Victorian parliamentary inquiry, as well as the impacts of coercive control.

In public hearings on Tuesday, the Australian Christian Lobby argued existing laws were sufficient to address criminal and abusive behaviour within cults.

There is no legal definition of a cult in Australia and Victoria does not explicitly criminalise coercive control as a separate behaviour, with examples such as threats and intimidation subject to family violence laws.

Queensland is the second Australian jurisdiction behind NSW to criminalise coercive control, with the

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