Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence. Will the minister please update the House on the findings contained in the Sex Discrimination Commissioner's report into the treatment of women in the Australian Defence Force?

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Page and acknowledge her longstanding interest in Defence matters. The Australian Human Rights Commission report into the treatment of women in the ADF was tabled in the House this morning. The Sex Discrimination Commissioner, who prepared the report, has made some public remarks—as have I and the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel and the Chief of the Defence Force.

This is a deeply significant report. In the aftermath of the so-called ADFA Skype incident in April 2011, the government commissioned a range of reviews—cultural reviews and reviews of the use of alcohol, the use of social media, personal conduct and the like. The results of those reviews were encapsulated in the document prepared by the Chief of the Defence Force and the secretary, called Pathway to change, which sets the prism through which personal conduct in the ADF is now to be judged. At the same time, I asked the Australian Human Rights Commission to investigate and review the treatment of women at ADFA and in the ADF generally. Commissioner Broderick's report into ADFA was made public in November last year, and today we see her broader work on the treatment of women in the Australian Defence Force. At the same time, members may recall that the government decided and announced that any restrictions on combat roles for women would be removed.

I thank Commissioner Broderick and her team for this work. I thank the Chief of the Defence Force, the secretary of the department and the service chiefs for their very close cooperation with the commissioner in the preparation of her report. The government accepts the report and agrees in principle with its recommendations. I have asked the Chief of the Defence Force and the service chiefs to implement the report and to do that in a detailed way. There is a built-in review by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner of that implementation progress in 12 months time, as there is with the ADFA report.

To give members a flavour of the report and its recommendations, as asked by the member for Page, the starting point for the report is that the equal treatment of women should be at the core of any Australian workplace and should be a core Defence value. The equal treatment of women should be a core Defence value not just for equality reasons but because to not do so undermines the operational effectiveness of the Australian Defence Force. In the modern era, with modern platforms, we are not just talking about physical strength; we are talking about intellectual strength and attributes. We know from other areas of Australian society that women can do this equally as well as, if not better than, men.

There will be a report tabled every year with the annual report marking the progress which Defence needs to make to get to this ideal, to get to this positive outcome where women are treated equally in Defence, in particular and including the senior leadership roles, which are advisedly no longer to be restricted to those people who have undertaken a core combat role. This is a deeply significant report and I commend it to all members of the House. (Time expired)