It may be the fodder of horror movies and scary stories, but an exorcism is a very real ritual that is still practiced in Australia today.

An ancient religious rite to cleanse a person or object thought to be possessed by demons; exorcisms are quite often portrayed as terrifying ordeals in horror movies.

A tradition that is found throughout a wide range of religions, exorcisms are not just a thing of the past and still happen in Australia today.

Father Barry May is a former Police Chaplain from Western Australia, has an Order of Australia medal, and is an experienced exorcist.

He believes that evil spirits and demons are a serious threat to many, and that an exorcism is the only way of ridding possessed people of their afflictions.

"It is the eradication, the sending away of an evil spirit or... an entity that has been bugging somebody for so many years, and has changed their life to such a point that they're at the point of exasperation," he said.

Father May believes that someone struggling with an evil spirit will be aware that they are being possessed, and therefore he will only exorcise people who approach him looking for help.

"I'm not a psychiatrist or psychologist and I'm okay with that because I'm here as a specialist Christian exorcist, and therefore I have a long time in discussion with such people, finding out where they're coming from," he said.

He believes that there is a difference between somebody who suffers from a mental illness and somebody who is possessed by evil spirits and this difference is found by asking specific questions.

"What is their faith value, what is their background, have they been playing around with stuff that they shouldn't play around with for example tarot cards, séances, ouija boards," he said, "and if I believe after probably several hours of interrogation... that it's a spiritual matter then it's on to me to be able to do something about it."

Although the whole experience might sound scary, Father May warns that it's not all like the movies, that "not everybody's head spins around and not everybody coughs up green vomit either."

Recently he cured a gentleman who believed he had become possessed after he changed religions, joined a new church and then acquired a stutter.

"He said there are fingers around my throat trying to choke me and that's where my stuttering is coming from... and I said have you got any mental problems, and he said 'never' he said, 'it never started until I joined this church six months ago."

According to Father May the recent rise in the need for exorcisms has been caused by falling membership of the church and the rise of bored people looking for spirituality elsewhere and becoming involved in occultist practices.

"What's happened is that they've given away the church, they've taken on something else," he said, "and they suddenly find that they're in a bind, they can't get out of it, so what do they do? They don't go and see their doctor or their specialist, they go see their priest."

The skills Father May carries as an experienced exorcist have been honed from over forty years of devotion to the church, and believes his abilities need to be taken seriously.

"I don't take away anything that the professionals do medically speaking and I hope they would have the same regard and respect for what I do as well because I think we can work together," he said.