Independent senator for South Australia, Nick Xenophon, says any royal commission into defence abuse must go beyond the scandal of the ‘ADFA-24’ of the 1990s and include abuse before and after the ADFA 24.
The ADFA 24 scandal involved the alleged rape of 26 female cadets by 24 male cadets at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), the failure of Defence to adequately deal with the allegations.
The report of the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART) released this week recommended a royal commission into the ADFA 24 “given the actual or perceived lack of capacity of Defence to deal with these issues”.
Senator Xenophon said that while he welcomed the taskforce’s recommendation, any royal commission “had to be broader than the ADFA 24, in order to rid Defence of the cancer of abuse”.
“What is particularly concerning, and indeed appalling, is that there may be senior ranking officers in defence who have not been brought to justice for their crimes,” Senator Xenophon said.
“Any royal commission needs to deal with allegations against serving members of the ADF as a matter of utmost urgency.”
Former Palmer United Senator, Jacquie Lambie, who served in the Australian Defence Force, joined forces with Senator Xenophon to call for a more thorough investigation into abuse.
Xenophon also made the point of acknowledging how many in the defence force fear to report abuse when seeing the mismanagement of cases.
He brought up the case of a young female naval complainant who was sexually assaulted by three male colleagues in the 1990s but, when she reported the abuse, investigators threatened, fined, and charged her with sexual misconduct. She then attempted suicide but incredibly this was treated as an attempt to avoid duty and was also punished.
“After decades of cultural reluctance to even acknowledge abuse in its ranks – defence must effectively address unreported abuse, both in the past and future,” he said.