- Royal Commission on the Australian Army
- Recommendation to expel troops convicted of sexual crimes
Soldiers convicted of sexual offences should be kicked out of the Australian Defence Force, a Royal Commission has recommended, after finding senior military commanders were unaware whether anyone within their ranks was guilty of such an offence.
The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide has recommended that the federal government establish an independent inquiry into sexual violence.
“We have not taken this decision lightly and have done so to honour the severity and scale of the evidence we have heard during the course of this royal commission,” the report said.
Defence Force personnel convicted of sexual offences under the military justice system remained in service, and the ADF did not know how many of its members had been convicted in civilian courts, even if the offence was against another member of the defence force.
The investigation found that when members were convicted of sexual offenses under the military justice system, they were not transferred to civilian court records.
Liberal MP Phillip Thompson, an Afghanistan veteran, said he was “shocked” by the findings and backed calls to sack members found guilty of sexual offences.
“Somehow they (the defense) don’t know that someone has been convicted of sexual assault or rape. That’s disgraceful, despicable and, frankly, heads should roll for that,” the Herbert member said.
“Reading things like this makes me feel sick to my stomach.”
A royal commission says soldiers convicted of sexual offences should be kicked out of the Australian Defence Force, after finding the military did not know who within its ranks was guilty of the crime (file image)
The commissioners wrote that they recognized the “frustration and disappointment” many victims might feel about further investigation after the final report was submitted Monday, three years after hearings began.
They found that the impact of sexual violence on current and former service members was “nothing short of horrific” and increased the risk of suicide.
“Sexual misconduct remains a systemic problem for the ADF,” the report said.
“This has been the case for decades and will continue to be the case unless the ADF commits to deep, systemic reform.”
Female ex-combatants died by suicide at a rate twice that of the general female population.
The investigation found that some victims did not report sexual violence for fear of damaging their career prospects or being ostracized.
Even when reports of sexual assault were substantiated, “systemic weaknesses” could expose victims to ongoing risk, including being sent to the same facility as the perpetrator.
Chief of Defence Admiral David Johnston said he had failed to achieve all the reforms to the military justice system he might have hoped for.
The ADF Inspector General had conducted an internal inquiry into the handling of sexual violence in the military justice system, but the 13 recommendations had yet to be fully implemented.
Mr Thompson wants the Inspector General’s report to be made public, and Defence Minister Richard Marles said the government would be “as transparent as we can”.
The commissioners wrote that they recognised the “frustration and disappointment” many victims might feel at further investigation after the final report was delivered on Monday, three years after hearings began (file image)
The Defense Department estimates that around 60 percent of sexual assaults go unreported, and that nearly 800 have been reported in the past five years.
Commissioner Peggy Brown said the sense of betrayal felt by the surviving victims left them traumatized.
“Sexual violence in the military is, in our experience, far more common than it should be,” she said ahead of the report’s release.
It contains 122 recommendations, including the creation of a permanent body to oversee progress on the royal commission’s findings.
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