Australia's premier military officer education institute remains rife with low-level sexual harassment of female cadets but it's much improved on the 1990s, when high-level sexual misconduct was rampant.
That's the summation of a long-awaited review of the treatment of women at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) in Canberra, conducted by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.
The review found almost three-quarters of female cadets and 30.3 per cent of male cadets at ADFA had experienced unacceptable sex-related harassment.
At the more serious end of the spectrum, 2.1 per cent of women and 0.2 per cent of men reported being forced into sex without consent or against their will.
But Ms Broderick said her review found that the ADFA of 2011 was "a vastly improved institution" compared with the 1990s.
At that time a succession of sexual scandals prompted a broad-ranging review by Bronwen Grey, who found a high level of unacceptable behaviour.
Ms Broderick said ADFA culture had evolved significantly from that period but further reform was needed.
"At ADFA we found, firstly, widespread low-level sexual harassment, an environment where the repeated and sustained telling of sexually explicit stories and offensive jokes is prevalent," she told reporters in Sydney.
"Second, we found that there were inadequate levels of supervision of cadets, particularly after hours and particularly of first-year cadets."
Ms Broderick said ADFA complaints processes were cumbersome, creating confusion and anxiety for the person complaining.
As well, ADFA had a high staff turnover - there have been six commandants in the past five years - and that has produced instability and inconsistency.
Ms Broderick's review was launched amid the public outrage over the "Skype scandal", in which a male ADFA cadet filmed himself having consensual sex with a fellow female cadet without her knowledge, streaming the video live over the internet to cadets in an adjacent room.
The academy's deputy commandant, Paul Peterson, said women travelled a harder road at ADFA than men, not because of systemic disadvantage of mistreatment but because of the "challenging realities of service in the military".
One former staff member said he became aware of a competition among male second-year and third-year cadets to score a treble - to have sex with a first-year female from the army, navy and air force.
A former female cadet cited a strong culture of "commodification" of women, particularly as sexual objects, with female cadets treated by male colleagues as game after-hours rather than as respected colleagues.
Ms Broderick made a total of 31 recommendations for further improvement.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith said he had asked Defence Department secretary Duncan Lewis and Australian Defence Force (ADF) chief David Hurley to assess the best way forward in implementing the recommendations.
Mr Smith said those would be considered alongside the findings of five reviews launched out of the Skype scandal.
These other reviews are looking into use of alcohol and social media in the defence force, personal conduct of defence personnel, management of incidents and complaints and leadership pathways for women in defence.
"ADFA remains the pre-eminent tertiary and military education training institution for future leaders of the ADF," Mr Smith said.
"The Broderick Review will assist Defence to further develop the strategic direction for the academy.
"Importantly, it also enables Defence to build on its commitment to zero tolerance for unacceptable behaviour and providing a safe and equitable workplace within ADFA and across Defence."
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