Major shakeup to the Australian Defence Force after shocking discovery within the ranks

Troops convicted of sexual crimes should be booted from the Australian Defence Force, a royal commission says, after it found the military didn’t know who within its ranks was guilty of the crime.

The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has recommended the federal government set up an independent inquiry into sexual violence.

‘We have not taken this decision lightly, and have done so in order to honour the severity and scale of evidence we have heard during the course of this royal commission,’ the report states.

Defence force personnel convicted of sexual crimes under the military justice system remained in service, with the ADF not knowing how many of its members had been convicted in civilian courts – even if the offending was against another member.

The inquiry found when members were convicted of sexual offences under the military justice system, they weren’t transferred to civilian court records.

Liberal MP Phillip Thompson, an Afghanistan veteran, said he was ‘gobsmacked’ by the findings and backed the call to sack members found guilty of sexual offences.

‘Somehow they (Defence) don’t know that someone’s been convicted of a sexual assault or rape. That is disgraceful, despicable and, quite frankly, heads should roll over that,’ the member for Herbert said.

‘Reading things like this makes me feel sick to my stomach.’

Commissioners wrote they acknowledged the ‘frustration and disappointment’ many victims might feel at an additional inquiry after the final report was handed down on Monday, three years after hearings started.

They found the impact of sexual violence on serving and ex-serving members was ‘nothing short of horrific’ and increased the risk of suicide.

‘Sexual misconduct remains a systemic issue for the ADF,” the report reads.

‘This has been the case for decades, and it will continue unless the ADF commits to deep, systemic reform.’

Ex-serving women died by suicide at twice the rate of the general female population.

Victims did not report their experiences of sexual violence out of fear of career repercussions or being ostracised, the inquiry found.

Even when reports of sexual assault were substantiated, ‘systemic weaknesses’ might expose victims to ongoing risk, including being posted to the same location as the perpetrator.

Chief of the Defence Force Admiral David Johnston gave evidence he wasn’t able to achieve all the reforms to the military justice system he might have hoped.

The report noted the inquiry completed by the Inspector-General of the ADF into the military justice system’s handling of sexual violence, whose 13 recommendations were yet to be fully implemented.

Mr Thompson wants the Inspector-General’s report publicly released, with Defence Minister Richard Marles saying the government would be ‘as transparent as we can be’.

Commissioners wrote they acknowledged the ‘frustration and disappointment’ many victims might feel at an additional inquiry after the final report was handed down on Monday, three years after hearings started (stock image)

Defence estimates about 60 per cent of sexual assaults go unreported, with almost 800 recorded during the past five years.

Commissioner Peggy Brown said a sense of betrayal felt by victim-survivors led to trauma. 

‘Sexual violence in the military is, in our experience, far more common than it should be,’ she said before the release of the report.

It contains 122 recommendations, including setting up a permanent body to monitor progress on the royal commission’s findings.

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