Defence abuse victims could get compo
MORE than 700 victims of abuse within the Department of Defence may get compensation, or even an official apology, after a review of systemic problems within the department is released publicly on Thursday night.
The executive summary of the DLA Piper Report, released under Freedom of Information laws, detailed more than 770 plausible allegations of abuse within military ranks in the past 60 years.
It paints a scathing picture of the uphill battle the government has to rid the Defence department of its systemic problems.
Of the 109 recommendations the review made, 85 were fully accepted by the department and a further 24 were accepted in-principle.
Spurred on by the "ADFA Skype incident" in April last year, where cadet filmed and webcast a sexual act between two other cadets, more than 1000 allegations of sexual and other forms of abuse were made to the department, sparking the review.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the review had two phases, the first of which was complete.
He said the second would be a review of Defence's process for responding to allegations of a sexual or abuse nature, as well as oversee the department's implementation of the review's recommendations.
