Documents released Friday revealed “horrific” child sex assaults and brutal initiation ceremonies in the Australian military, prompting Prime Minister Julia Gillard to signal a possible public inquiry.
The suggestion of a royal commission followed Defence Minister Stephen Smith denying covering up the extent of abuse, stretching from the 1950s to the present.
Three months ago he made public extracts of a government-initiated review into the allegations, but the Australian Broadcasting Corporation obtained the full executive summary under freedom of information laws. It goes into far more detail, highlighting nearly 850 cases and painting a culture of covering up, failing to punish perpetrators and hostility towards victims who complained. In particular, the report details allegations of sexual and other serious physical assaults against boys as young as 13 dating back to the 1950s, which it described as “horrific”. The minimum joining age is now 17.
