Rape survivor ‘betrayed’ after investigator promoted to lead navy

When a navy trainee was claimed she was raped, she trusted the investigator looking into the incident would help her. But he refused to investigate her complaint— and has been promoted to lead Australia’s navy.

A navy trainee who claims she was raped 20 years ago is indignant the man who told her there would be “no further action taken” is now chief of the Australian Navy.

It comes as the Royal Commission into veteran suicide has heard victim survivors felt betrayed by the ADF.

Deb Morris was a young Navy trainee in 2002 when she alleges her superior officer raped her and then pressured her to stay silent. In 2015 Ms Morris lodged a complaint with Victoria Police.

“They took him in for questioning but, like too many other rape investigations, it fell to the question of consent. The alleged perpetrator said it was consensual and I said it was rape. So the police made the decision not to press charges,” she said.

Her complaint was then referred by the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART) to the ADF to pursue an administrative action.

Deborah Morris feels betrayed by the ADF. Picture: Tara Croser.

In a letter to Ms Morris dated September 2018 – a whopping 29 months after the ADF had received her complaint – then Deputy Chief of Navy Mark Hammond said he undertook a career “review” of the alleged offender and had decided not to proceed with an internal investigation.

Ms Morris said she felt ­betrayed to see the man who refused to investigate her complaint has now been promoted to the head of the Navy.

“I was denied all avenues in pursuit of justice. It was left up to me to continue to contact the ADF about the status of the complaint. How did it take the ADF 29 months to arrive at a decision of non-investigation? If the person who raped me had been accused of war crimes as opposed to rape, the ADF would have left no stone unturned. Instead, the person I hold responsible for failing to investigate gets promoted,” she said.

“Defence personnel struggle to come forward and report any forms of abuse because their complaints are rarely taken seriously, or if they do come forward, they are mismanaged – and this is precisely what happened to me.”

From left, Major General Simon Stuart, Rear Admiral Mark Hammond, Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell, Air Vice-Marshal Robert Chipman, and Chief of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Greg Bilton were given leadership roles by the new A;banese government.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Telegraph as part of the Uniform Justice campaign, Ms Morris said on the same day that Len ­Roberts-Smith gave evidence to the Royal Commission stating that DART participants felt betrayed: “Labor promotes the very man to the Chief of Navy who did not investigate my complaint”.

Mr Roberts-Smith, who chaired DART, told the Royal Commission victims were not believed and instead were re-traumatised by the department.

“DVA would read the (sexual assault) story … and say: ‘Well, that’s really bizarre we don’t accept that happened to you’,” he said.

In a statement Vice Admiral Hammond said he takes allegations of sexual misconduct with the utmost seriousness.

“The safety and wellbeing of the women and men in the Navy is my highest priority,” he said.

Originally published as Rape survivor ‘betrayed’ after investigator promoted to lead navy