‘No One Came to My Aid’: Military Sexual Assault Victims Tell Senate of Their Experiences

Serving and veteran Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel have told stories of sexual harassment and assault as the government considers a news commission to deal with such issues in the military.

“I signed to serve my country. I did not sign the rights of my body away,” said an anonymous former service member’s submission (pdf) to the Foreign Affairs Legislation Committee.

She told of male colleagues trying to force her door open. She braced against it for the rest of the night. “No one came to my aid,” she wrote.

“When I read this bill, it read like my own case,” wrote (pdf) a serving Army member who claims they were drugged and sexually assaulted as a trainee. They are due to be medically discharged this year.

Another submitter said they reported an alleged February 2024 assault to civilian police. That case is before the courts.

“The more serious the allegation, the less likely commanders are to take decisive action,” they wrote (pdf).

Some of the cases date back decades. A former Air Force recruit says she reported a rape the day after it happened in 1984. She was then banned from speaking to male recruits for nearly four weeks, she wrote (pdf).

The man “was never charged or disciplined by the RAAF.”

She said a chaplain suggested she “drop the charges and just move on with my life.”

Another former Air Force member described 12 months of harassment and assault by her supervisor. He was found guilty at a court martial, she wrote (pdf).

She said the Defence Force Ombudsman apologised, but “the promised reforms never materialised.”

New Bill Backs Commission to Deal With Assault

The proposed commission comes amid a broader examination of sexual violence within the ADF. An independent inquiry announced in 2025 is examining 11 areas, including under-reporting, retaliation against victims, systemic failures and whether the military justice system provides accountability.

The bill, brought by Senator Jacqui Lambie, would amend the Defence Act 1903 to set up a commission with the aim of producing “an Australian Defence Force with zero incidence of sexual assault.”

Victims could file an unrestricted report, which would trigger an investigation, or a restricted report, which triggers support without an investigation and protects the victim’s identity.

The commissioner would not be subject “to direction by any person” in performing their functions.

The bill’s explanatory memorandum quotes the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which tabled its final report on Sept. 9, 2024: “for many members, the greatest source of danger comes from within the ADF itself.”

Human Rights Centre Says Bill is ‘Toothless’

Human Rights Law Centre lawyer Regina Featherstone said the centre’s Whistleblower Project, Australia’s first legal service for whistleblowers, has had 800 people seek legal support since it opened in July 2023. She said as many as 7 or 8 in 10 whistleblowers face reprisal.

The centre backs the bill’s purpose, but Featherstone said it views the bill as being “somewhat toothless” on reprisals.

She said the commission should be an authorised recipient of public interest disclosures, so reporters gain legal protection. Its submission (pdf) urged clearer investigation steps and time limits.

Senator Jessica Collins said the Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner have proposed that the bill wait until a military sexual violence inquiry reports.

Featherstone said the centre does not want to see the reform pushed back “any longer than it necessarily needs to.”

That was also the view of Professor Ben Wadham, an Army veteran and former military police investigator. He is now director of Open Door, a Flinders University group that calls itself a “multi-disciplinary research hub on veterans and first responders.”

Wadham said the bill offers a chance “to move beyond the longstanding expectation that defence investigate, manage, and reform its own response.”

His submission (pdf) draws on about 35 inquiries since 1970 and interviews with about 300 former members. It cites Defence figures of nearly 800 assaults reported in five years, with an estimated 60 percent underreporting rate.

He opposed delay, warning that “more people will go unheard” or “unhelped.”

The committee is due to report on Oct. 7.