Senator Xenophon today moved a motion in the Senate calling for an inquiry into whether the organisations should be subjected to a public benefit test, like that in the UK.

He was prompted by complaints from former Church of Scientology members, and said he had received "hundreds" more allegations since first raising the issue.

Claims of forced abortions, imprisonment in boot camps and separation of families were also aired this week on the ABC's Four Corners program, he said.

"This organisation operates in a way that seems an anathema to the basic standards of decency," Senator Xenophon told parliament.

The Australian Greens supported the bid, with leader Bob Brown labelling Scientology a "dangerous cult".

"It's about entrapment of people by sects who take over people's lives, their livelihoods, their families," he said.

But both Labor and the coalition voted against the motion.

Labor frontbencher Joe Ludwig said a Senate inquiry was unwarranted, as there were already two other inquiries looking into taxation matters, including the tax-free status of religious groups.

Liberal senator Eric Abetz said the inquiry would turn the Senate into a "de-facto criminal investigations bureau" and worried it would allow disaffected people from all types of groups to air their grievances.

On reports that the Church of Scientology stops its followers from accessing mental health treatment, Senator Abetz said he believed it was a "dangerous" practice, but it was a person's right to refuse medical treatment.

"In our free society, we actually allow people to hold silly, bizarre and even dangerous views," he said.