Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the government would make an announcement “in the near future” about how it would deal with more than 700 sexual and physical abuse allegations.
Further legal action, criminal proceedings, a capped compensation scheme and an apology to those adversely affected were also possible outcomes tabled in a 1,500 page report released by the Government today.
RESULTS 'WILL SHOCK'
Details of alleged of abuse and cover-ups date as far back as 1951.
Minister Smith said last year's highly publicised AFDA Skype sex scandal, where an 18-year-old female cadet was allegedly filmed unknowingly while having sex with a colleague, prompted more people to come forward. “In the aftermath of the AFDA Skype issue, my office, and defence, and the media, were inundated with allegations of previous abuse.”
Shadow Defence Minister David Johnston said the alleged victims who came forward with their stories have earned his respect, and said that the focus now must switch to justice and a cultural change within the ADF. “Justice delayed is justice denied. The Government needs to act quickly and sensitively on this and the first priority should be the complainants.”
Mr Smith warned the allegations of sexual and other serious abuses within the Defence Force "will shock some people".
REPORT FINDINGS
The report findings indicate the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has, in many cases, failed to protect its members from serious abuse over the last four or five decades.
Hundreds of allegations deemed “plausible” by Defence Minister Stephen Smith contain claims of Defence staff inflicting sexual and physical abuse to ADF staff, some as young as 13. It also claims Defence management failed to respond adequately where incidents were reported.
The report asserts it is “likely” that many people who have carried out abuse in the ADF have not been identified, punished or removed from their roles.
KEY ALLEGATIONS
The following is an incomplete list of findings laid out in the report by DLA Piper following their review:
From the 1950s through to the 1980s, many boys aged 13, 14, 15 and 16 years of age in the ADF suffered abuse, including serious sexual and other physical abuse inflicted by other boys or adults in the ADF.
Many of the boys who suffered such abuse later participated in inflicting similar abuse on other boys in the ADF.
Some, possibly many, perpetrators of abuse in the past have not been called to account.
It is likely that many people who have carried out abuse have not been identified, or, if identified, have not had any significant action taken in relation to them and are still at ADF.
Twenty-four cases of rape at the Defence Force Academy in the late 1990s never went to trial.
It is possible male cadets who raped female cadets at ADFA in the late 1990s and others who witnesses such rape and did not intervene may now be in middle to senior management positions in the ADF.
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