Consultation on the Weaponisation of the Military Justice System

Summary
The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide found that certain Justice system features, including lack of consistency in decisions, command structures undermining impartiality and procedural transparency, can increase moral injury, contribute to psychological distress and elevate suicide risk. 
 
The Defence Family Advocate of Australia, Charlotte Webb, and our National Delegate for the ACT and Southern NSW, Jessica Mitchell, participated in the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) office’s Inquiry into the Weaponisation of the Military Justice System delivering valuable input in both workshops and 1-1 consultations. Our team focussed on providing feedback and recommendations for existing military justice policies that have a direct impact on Defence family members. This includes the suspension of ADF members without pay, where current policy has the potential to cause significant financial stress for ADF families. 
 


 
Outcome
DFA made a total of seven recommendations to the Inquiry, listed below, four of these recommendations were accepted and have been highlighted by Recommendation 15 of the Inquiry Report. 
 
     Accepted recommendations:
  1. Section 100 of the Defence Force Discipline Act be amended to reverse the presumption so that the default position is suspension with pay.
  2. Military justice processes should be trauma-informed and trauma-responsive and promote wellbeing, collaboration, adaptation and safety for those who have been exposed to traumatic experiences.
  3. Military justice processes should be conducted in a timely way, both to support command and to provide certainty of outcomes to ADF members.

  4. A brief fact sheet outlining ADF members’ rights, obligations, major
    milestones and available support measures be developed and provided at the earliest opportunity to
    all complainants, respondents and other witnesses involved in military justice processes.

    Unaccepted recommendations:
  5. Families are consulted where outcomes could effect housing, financial security and wellbeing
  6. Family liaison officers to offer neutral support to guide families through justice procedure when outcomes could effect housing, financial security and wellbeing
  7. Formal avenues for families to raise concerns, assist the member in challenging decisions and seek support during the processes (perhaps through family liaison officer) for procedural fairness