ADF abusers still in power, investigation author claims

Sexual abusers in the Australian defence force end up in management roles while only a fraction of assaults are reported, an investigative report author has claimed.

Sexual abusers end up as managers in the Australian ­Defence Force and only a quarter of assaults are reported each year, the author of a government investigation has claimed.

The damning report, commissioned by the federal government, was released more than 10 years ago, yet its lead author claims most abusers ­remain in positions of power.

The Review of Allegations of Sexual and Other Forms of Abuse in Defence was led by lawyer Dr Gary Rumble in 2011 after an 18-year-old was filmed having sex and the videos shared via Skype to other cadets.

It found the ADF had a culture of silence around ­sexual abuse, and a major overhaul of reporting structures was sorely needed.

The report has mostly fallen on deaf ears and its core findings are still ignored.

Sexual abusers in the ADF remain in positions of power, an investigation author has claimed. Picture: Lachie Millard

Defence’s own 2020-21 annual report found 187 sexual assaults and abuse claims were officially reported to the Joint Military Policy Unit, but Mr Rumble said the figure was more likely to be upward of 700.

“In general society, the experts say less than 20 per cent of sexual assaults are reported – plenty of reports have said defence environments strongly discourage reporting,” Dr Rumble said.

“So if the number reported is 187, that implies at least four times as many assaults that went completely unreported.”

He told the Sunday Telegraph Defence personnel ­reporting abuse were often treated like they had been disloyal, “instead of treating the abuse as an act of disloyalty”.

“I recommended that ­Defence stop talking about zero tolerance, and instead talk about zero instances.

Dr Rumble also claimed only a quarter of assaults are reported.

“Defence talks about how many people is it acceptable to get blown up at the grenade range? Zero. How many people is it acceptable to have die of heat exhaustion in training in the tropics? Zero. How many times is it acceptable for a member of the ADF to rape another member of the ADF? Surely the answer is zero.

“But former Vice Chief of Defence Ray Griggs … would not commit to zero incidents because it was not achievable.”

Dr Rumble said it was likely perpetrators of abuse are still serving in high ranks in the ADF: “It’s not apparent to me that in Defence anything was done, so it carries the implication that those people are still in the defence force.”

That’s a slap in the face for victims who have spoken up as part of the Sunday Telegraph’s Uniform Justice campaign.