Government to establish inquiry to investigate sexual violence in ADF

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A landmark inquiry into sexual violence in the Australian Defence Force will go ahead, a year on from the federal government committing to holding it. It was recommended as part of the Royal Commission into defence and veteran suicide.

Transcript

00:00We knew it was going to go ahead. The government did commit to it after the recommendations

00:06from the Royal Commission. But we've got a little bit more detail about it now. The fact

00:11that the Human Rights Commission has opened consultation on the terms of reference for

00:17this inquiry. We know it's going to look at things like effective prevention and also

00:22perpetrator accountability. That's what's in the drafts of the terms of reference so

00:26far. As we found out through the Royal Commission process, sexual violence within the Australian

00:32Defence Force was prevalent. There were close to 800 reports of sexual assault within five

00:38years. And at the time, when reflecting on that data, those in the know said that was

00:42just the tip of the iceberg and it was likely much bigger, a much bigger problem than those

00:48800 cases that it identified. Now, the Minister for Defence Personnel, Matt Keogh, was speaking

00:53at the National Press Club here in Canberra today, a year on from responding to these recommendations.

01:00And he says that he really needs to stamp out and wants to stamp out sexual violence within

01:04the ADF.

01:05Not only does sexual violence cause serious harm to individuals, it undermines defence and impacts

01:13our operational effectiveness. Inconsistent handling of cases and the continued presence of offenders

01:19within the ADF have eroded confidence in defence's ability to keep its people safe.

01:27If there's one message that I want perpetrators to take from my address today, it is this.

01:33If you engage in sexual violence, you can presume that you no longer have a job in our defence

01:40force.

01:41Now, one of the other recommendations out of the Royal Commission was to adopt a mandatory

01:47discharge policy for defence personnel who were convicted of sexual related offences.

01:54Now, that is one of the recommendations that is already being implemented or will be by the

01:59end of this month.

02:00Yeah. And so this inquiry was one of the key recommendations from the Royal Commission.

02:06How are the other recommendations going?

02:08Yeah.

02:09So there were 122 recommendations in total.

02:12The government did commit to implementing in principle or in full 104 of those.

02:18Now we've been told today that 32 are in place so far or will be by the end of this month,

02:27Jo. And then a further 89 will be in progress or under consideration.

02:31And they're expecting to further ramp up work on those recommendations next year as well.

02:37So there is progress being made, but still a lot to be done to turn around the culture

02:42within the ADF.

02:43OK, Evelyn Manfield there in Canberra.

02:46And if you're a veteran or serving member and you or your family need help, you can call

02:50the open arms organisation on 1800 011 046.

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