Australia : Probe finds 'shocking' abuse in military

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Probe finds 'shocking' abuse in Australian military
July 10, 2012


A damning report on the Australian military on Tuesday detailed 24 allegations of rape that never went to trial and other claims that Defence Minister Stephen Smith (pictured in 2011) admitted would "shock" people.

SYDNEY (AFP) - A damning report on the Australian military on Tuesday detailed 24 allegations of rape that never went to trial and other claims that Defence Minister Stephen Smith admitted would "shock" people.

The report was commissioned by the government last year following the so-called Skype scandal, when footage of a young male recruit having sex with an unwitting female classmate was streamed online to cadets in another room.

Some of the allegations had already been revealed through the media but Smith Tuesday released the entire 1,500-page document detailing 847 alleged incidents of sexual or other abuse dating back to the 1950s.

"It does raise very serious allegations and does raise matters that are deeply sensitive and they will shock some people," Smith said of the report.

As well as the rape claims, it said that "from the 1950s through to the early 1980s, many boys aged 13, 14, 15 and 16 years of age in the defence force suffered abuse including serious sexual and other physical abuse".

Until the 1960s, boys as young as 13 were recruited into the Navy and 15-year-olds were accepted into all three services up until the early 1980s, although the minimum joining age is now 17.

It also said: "It is certain that many young females in the defence force have been subjected to serious sexual and physical assault and other serious abuse inflicted."

The report suggested paedophiles in the past joined the military to access young people in the same way they sought out positions in orphanages, schools and churches.

Documents previously released detailed "horrific" child sex assaults and brutal initiation ceremonies and painted a culture of cover-up, failure to punish perpetrators and hostility towards victims who complained.

The report said some of the accused may now hold positions in the top ranks, adding that many alleged victims never reported the abuse because of concerns they would not be believed.

The government has yet to settle on a mechanism to deal with the allegations but a full public inquiry has been suggested.

"We are not too far away from making final conclusions in this area," Smith said.

Defence Force chief General David Hurley has vowed the military will cooperate fully with the government and warned that any serving personnel guilty of abuse would be brought to justice.

au.news.yahoo.com

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Read the 1,500-page DLA Piper report here (188Mb PDF)


DLA Piper Report of the Review of Allegations of Sexual and other forms of abuse in Defence

On 10 July 2012 the Minister for Defence Stephen Smith released the final report of Phase One of a review by law firm DLA Piper into allegations of sexual and other forms of abuse in the Australian Defence Force.

DLA Piper was engaged by Defence to methodically review allegations at arm’s length from Defence and to make recommendations for further action. The review was in two phases.

Visit the background page if you would like to learn more about the background of this review.

The Final Report of Phase 1 of the DLA Piper Review of Allegations of sexual and other abuse in Defence (redacted for public release) is below:

Complete Report

All files are in pdf

• Full report [188Mb]

Report extracts

• Volume 1 [4.9Mb]
• Volume 1 Supplement [73.8Mb]
• List of appendixes [280Kb]
• Apendixes 1 to 74
  • Part 1. 1-25 [48Mb]
  • Part 2. 26-50 [26Mb]
  • Part 3. 51-70 [12.5Mb]
  • Part 4. 71 [18.1Mb]
  • Part 5. 72 [7.1Mb]
  • Part 6. 73-74 [35.9Mb]

Defence has been advised that the Government is still considering its options regarding Phase Two of the Review.

Support provided by the Department of Defence

Current or former members of the ADF, Defence civilians and family members who are experiencing distress or otherwise feel they require assistance are encouraged to access one of the following counseling services:

Current ADF Personnel (All Hours Support Line)

1800 628 036.

Current Defence APS employees including immediate family members
(24 Hours, 7 days a week support line through the Employee Assistance Program)

1300 361 008.

Former ADF or former Defence APS Personnel including immediate family members
(24 Hours, 7 days a week support line through the Employee Assistance Program)

1300 361 008.

Support provided by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) handles compensation and support for former or current Australian Defence Force personnel who suffered or suffer injury or conditions related to their service.

Please call 1800 816 306 to discuss your circumstances with DVA.

Counselling is also available to eligible ADF members and their families through the VVCS-Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service on 1800 011 046. It is a free and confidential service, available 24 hours a day across Australia.

DLA Piper Review Contacts

The DLA Piper Review Team has finalised its assessment of individual allegations raised between April and 1 October last year.

While it won’t be assessing new allegations, it is maintaining a record of the allegations raised with it after 1 October 2011 and providing a registration number to each new case so that those matters can be dealt with appropriately.

To register a new allegation, you should contact DLA Piper directly. DLA Piper will try to speak with you directly and in the interests of ensuring confidentiality will not leave telephone messages if you do not answer the phone.

Telephone 1800 424 991 Please leave a response on the automated answering service and your call will be returned – usually on the same business day.

E-mail: defence.inquiry@dlapiper.com

Details of the Review, including process, updates and announcements is available at DLA Piper Review.

Australian Government, Department of Defence

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Australia apologizes to military abuse victims
Nov 26, 2012

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s defense minister on Monday apologized to military personnel past and present who were sexually abused or otherwise mistreated during their service. He also started an inquiry into hundreds of allegations of abuse over six decades.

Defense Minister Stephen Smith made the apology in Parliament on behalf of the government in the latest step in a two-year effort to reform the culture of the Australian military and it make more accepting of women.

“Young men and women have suffered treatment which no member of our defense force or our community generally should experience,” Smith said.

“Young men and women have endured sexual, physical or mental abuse from their colleagues which are not acceptable and do not reflect the values of a modern, diverse, tolerant, Australian society,” he added.

He noted claims that officers had abused their positions of trust through their own behavior or by turning a blind eye to the actions of others.

Smith also announced that retired judge Len Roberts-Smith had been appointed to examine allegations of abuse by more than 1,000 alleged victims across every decade since 1950s.

The earliest case relates to the alleged abuse of a 13-year-old navy trainee in 1951, while the most recent relates to events in 2011.

A preliminary review of these allegations by a law firm found that 750 were “plausible,” Smith said.

The three-month inquiry could result in compensation of up to 50,000 Australian dollars ($52,000) for each victim and the alleged perpetrators being referred to criminal authorities for prosecution.

Smith said some of the perpetrators could still be serving in the military.

The government started inquiries last year in response to a young woman’s allegation that a fellow cadet had secretly filmed a sexual encounter between the pair and broadcast it to their colleagues at the Australian military officer training academy.

The incident and the attention the government focused on it provoked a wave of complaints of sexual misconduct over the decades.

asiancorrespondent.com

[sabang]

Yeh, I joined the navy in 1976 when I was sweet 15, and I wuz raped. By an instructors daughter. Wonder if I'll manage to get compo?
Incidentally, the current defence minister is a plonker- utterly hated by the defence establishment.
They haven't forgot the way he tried to throw Bruce Kafer (then CO of the defence academy) under the bus because of the 'youtube scandal'.

[peterpan]

did thr instructors daughter have A ig dick

[kingwilly]

There lies an irreconcilable dichotomy with the purpose of a Defense force and our expectations of their behaviour during peacetime. I'm not certain we can have polite, tolerant, peaceful soldiers when we need them to be strong, decisive and aggressive during an operation or war.

That said, some of the allegations are unacceptable and the defence force is right to investigate.