Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Defence, upon notice, on 22 November 2011:

In regard to the Facebook page entitled 'Steve Austin' (the webpage) which targeted serving gay and lesbian Defence members and to which current and serving members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) subscribe or contributed:

(1) On what date were all persons targeted and named on the webpage advised of the fact by the ADF.

(2) Has the Minister been briefed on the anti-Semitic and Nazi linkages connected with the webpage.

(3) Are persons who were targeted by the webpage required to continue working with Defence members who subscribed or contributed to the webpage.

(4) Has the ADF warned its members to 'check their privacy settings' when joining webpages that might be regarded as hate and vilification sites.

(5) Is there a list of words and expressions that are vilifying, insulting , racist, sexist or homophobic that are explicitly prohibited from being used by Defence members.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Materiel) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Defence has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) By 1 November 2010.

(2) Yes.

(3) Six persons where identified on the webpage. One of those members has discharged from Army and another is in the Standby Reserves. Three of the members remain in units that contain members of Army who were identified in the investigation. Those three members have indicated a desire for this to occur. One member has identified a desire not to be directly involved with members identified in the investigation. That individual is currently in a workplace that allows this separation to be managed.

(4) Army conducted cultural training sessions for staff on 31 May 2011 that highlighted the significance of privacy settings in social media. Army also wrote to the 32 ADF members identified in the investigation and made a similar point.

(5) There is no list of words and expressions that are explicitly prohibited from being used by Defence members. The Defence Force Discipline Act 1982 (DFDA), however, provides for the discipline of members engaged in unacceptable behaviour. Additionally, members of the ADF remain subject to state and Commonwealth laws (see response to parts 4-7 of Senate Question on Notice No. 1473).