Is the recent Australian Defence Force "Skype scandal" really about sex?

10/04/11 - I'm not really sure where to start regarding the recent Australian Defence Force "Skype scandal" but feel compelled to write something as the issue spirals bigger and bigger. Where is all this going in terms of the protection of people within our defence services?

I spent my childhood and teens wanting to join the UK's Royal Navy and was accepted as a cadet officer in the Wrens. In those days, I could be either a writer Wren (a secretary) or a radar Wren (a radar operator). Women couldn't go to sea.

My brother-in-law is an army major and the armed forces have always had, for me, an almost sacred feel about them. Serve God, country and family — in that order. Those who are prepared to serve their country in this way are, in my eyes, pretty well up there.

The armed services offer great careers, variety and excitement, travel and training and the ultimate loyalty, so I thought. I understood it's always been about loyalty. Loyalty to country, to each other, a team united, training together for the ultimate sacrifice. That's what I acknowledge with the ultimate respect on Anzac Day.

So what's with this scandal in the past few weeks? Do we start with the woman having sex with a member of one's peers eight weeks into a new job? I'll probably be slammed for being old-fashioned, but there you go.

Or do we go with the lack of loyalty and respect, as one "peer" is accused of organising for that sex to be secretly filmed and streamed over Skype for other so-called peers' voyeuristic viewing.

Then you have an employee who doesn't feel they can go to their own management for protection (yep, and within our own defence force) but has to go to the Ten Network in search of justice or some kind of acknowledgement of what has happened?

And what about the revelation of a Facebook page created to expose and intimidate homosexuals employed in the defence force? An ADF investigation into the anti-gay campaign has evidently stalled because of inadequate resources, with no-one assigned to the job at various stages.

All this was played out recently in our defence force, where there exists, so I thought, some of the strongest bonds in human unity in paid employment you could find. It's a workplace where people are trained for war, to sustain the ultimate physical hardship, battle, capture and possibly torture. And in the worst moments, you are taught that your mate will cover your back: the "Digger" magic.

The young female victim is on compassionate leave while the seven male cadets who allegedly viewed the sex act as it was streamed on Skype remain on campus. I'm sorry, but where is the justice here? Isn't even this decision indicative of unfairness to the victim?

But it's not just confined to female abuse and not just about women. Male soldiers have come forward who have reportedly been bashed, abused and raped. There have been reports of suicide attempts, depression and servicemen and women being discharged from the service.

What's being allowed to happen? What are the consequences? What has changed in our society over the past eight months that's compelled people such as Kirsty Fraser-Kirk to feel it is necessary to go to the media to be heard?

Do we, number one, have an issue with "sweeping it all under the rug" rather than tackling the problem? Since the woman known as Kate reported the Skype case to the media, other people have gone public with reports of abuse.

Does it take a public scandal for an employer to change its policy or views? Consider the David Jones sexual harassment case, or allegations of sexual assault by professional football players. I know for sure among my barrister friends that the David Jones sexual harassment case caused the revamp of many corporate policies and woke employers and HR departments to greater care, procedure and reporting of sexual harassment cases.

The ADF media departments are working in overdrive and have announced that more women can hope to serve in the front lines sooner. Great! That's a nice deflecting strategy that doesn't deal with the issue at hand, which is the need to create an environment where employees feel free to speak up and know they'll have the trust and support of their colleagues.

The reality is the forces are still relatively new to dealing with women. In every way. The sad thing is that crises and scandals makes us sit up and take note. And then this leads to action and change. One hopes it will lead to appropriate, well-thought through change and not just kneejerk reactions that don't alter workplace cultures or behaviours.

The ultimate course of action surely is to sit down and examine our own environments and see how those can be changed to reflect a better place. We need to work to set up protocols to prevent the incident in the first place, rather than have to deal with the aftermath.

The ACT's WorkCover Unit states that the dollar cost of workplace bullying in Australia is between $6 billion and $13 billion a year. Being properly prepared is better than dealing with a media scandal. It's a good HR policy — don't you think?

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