In the past decade, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has recognised that it has a long and shameful history of allowing its members, often whilst still children, to be physically and sexually abused. The men and women who had these experiences have often suffered in silence, within a culture that discouraged reporting of abuse and failed to support survivors. That is now changing.
When the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART) concluded, it had assessed 2,224 complaints of abuse within Defence. These complaints of abuse dated back to the 1940s.
After DART, in December 2016, the Defence Force Ombudsman (DFO) began receiving further reports of serious abuse within the ADF. Since then, the DFO has recommended reparation payments to survivors of the most serious forms of abuse in the ADF. Recent government statistics show the total number of reports received by the Ombudsman between 1 December 2016 and 31 December 2021 is 2,936.
Combined, over 5,000 veterans have overcome guilt, shame and embarrassment about personal abusive experiences in the ADF to formally report what happened to them and receive acknowledgement in the form of a reparation payment of up to $50,000 that the abuse should never have occurred.
Many veterans don’t recognise their experience as abuse. Perhaps they have blocked it from their memory, to try and move on with their lives or are fearful they won’t be believed. Perhaps they are still suffering fear about consequences of reporting. Most frighteningly, many don’t know that they have this option available to them. Whatever the reason, they are running out of time.
The jurisdiction of the Ombudsman to receive Reports of Abuse and make recommendations for reparation payments ends on 30 June 2022. The thousands of survivors who have not submitted a Report will lose the opportunity they deserve to receive the acknowledgement of their experiences.
For further information and to address some of the frequently asked questions that might create a barrier for survivors to make reports, please see our website: donaldsonlaw.com.au/news/
By Lisa Kinder, Special Counsel, Donaldson Law
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