It is alleged that behavioural problems are not limited to the HMAS Success. (Department of Defence)More allegations have surfaced of behavioural issues
within the Defence Force after a damning report highlighted a culture of predatory sexual behaviour aboard Naval supply ship HMAS Success.An independent inquiry was commissioned by Defence Force Chief Angus
Houston after allegations of misconduct emerged during the ship's 2009
tour of South-East Asia and China.In tabling the first part of the report to Parliament on Tuesday, Defence Minister Stephen Smith called it "a confronting read".A day after the report into misconduct on HMAS Success, Navy Chief
Russ Crane told a Senate estimates hearing he is confident extreme
behaviour is not widespread."It's atrocious and we're doing everything we can to make sure it isn't happening," he said.But a sailor who does not want to be named has told the ABC there are behavioural problems on other ships too. The sailor says with hundreds of men on board, female sailors get
harassed and males get congratulatory high fives for bad behaviour while the women get called names. The crew member also claims it is not limited to the Navy, as female
soldiers are called "ground sheets" for the connotation that soldiers
lie on top of them.Gender politics expert Professor Catharine Lumby says the Defence
Force must encourage members to stand up against predatory behaviour.Professor Lumby, from the University of NSW, says research shows many people in hierarchical organisations feel they cannot speak out."Clearly the Navy is taking it seriously and trying to change that culture where it exists," she said. "If you're trying to do that, you need to give people permission to stand up. "In other words, you need to encourage people to be ethical
bystanders because very often the really abhorrent behaviour is
perpetrated by a few."Binge drinking
Meanwhile, the Defence Force is taking steps to tackle the problem of binge drinking in its ranks. The Army has already highlighted the issue as something it wants to
address and now Defence is teaming up with the Australian Drug
Foundation to investigate the problem. Air Chief Marshal Houston told a Senate estimates hearing that he wants to see the drinking culture changed. "This is not something that is limited to the ADF; this particular
generation seems to have a high proportion of binge drinkers," he said. "We need to understand why that is so and come up with the strategies to counter that."
NAVY NEWS
23 February 2011 - 18:41
Sex scandals not limited to Navy, sailor says
More allegations have surfaced of behavioural issues within the Defence Force after a damning report highlighted a culture of predatory sexual behaviour aboard Naval supply ship HMAS Success.
NAVY NEWS
23 February 2011 - 18:41
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