Information about the Inquiry

The report of the review of allegations of sexual and other abuse in Defence, conducted by DLA Piper, and the response of the Government to the report

Information about the Inquiry

On 10 October 2012 the Senate referred the following matter to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committees for inquiry and report.

Committee's intention
In terms of setting expectations, the committee emphasises that it is not in a position to resolve individual disputes or settle complaints about alleged abuse in Defence.
The committee's overarching concern is to develop recommendations for improving the way in which Defence and the Government manage and respond to such allegations.

In light of this focus, the committee is seeking written submissions from organisations, agencies, legal, health and allied practitioners that are responsible or offer support for,
or have direct experience of, any aspect of the way in which allegations of abuse in Defence (or similar organisations) are reported, investigated, managed and/or resolved.

Submissions should be received by 22 November 2012. The reporting date is 01 March 2013. On 15 May 2013,the Senate granted an extension of time for reporting until 27 June 2013.

The Committee is seeking written submissions from interested individuals and organisations preferably in electronic form submitted online or sent by email to fadt.sen@aph.gov.au as an attached Adobe PDF or MS Word format document. The email must include full postal address and contact details.

Alternatively, written submissions may be sent to:

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee
Department of the Senate
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia

Notes to help you prepare your submission are available from the website at https://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/wit_sub/index.htm. Alternatively, the Committee Secretariat will be able to help you with your inquiries and can be contacted on telephone +61 2 6277 3535 or facsimile +61 2 6277 5818 or by email to fadt.sen@aph.gov.au.

Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to Parliament House TTY number 02 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools at http://access.adobe.com/ for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. If you require any special arrangements to enable you to participate in the Committee's inquiry, please contact the Committee Secretariat.

Once the Committee accepts your submission, it becomes a confidential Committee document and is protected by Parliamentary Privilege. You must not release your submission without the Committee's permission. If you do, it will not be protected by Parliamentary Privilege. At some stage during the inquiry, the Committee normally makes submissions public and places them on its website. Please indicate if you want your submission to be kept confidential.


For further information, contact:

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee
Department of the Senate
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia

Phone:+61 2 6277 3535
Fax:+61 2 6277 5818
Email:fadt.sen@aph.gov.au