Workplace behaviour survey from Australian Defence Force reveal shocking toxic culture thriving in military

More than a third of defence members experienced bullying, harassment or an abuse of power last year, with new data laying bare a toxic culture that is born in training colleges and continues to thrive in the military ranks.

Workplace behaviour survey results for each element of the army, navy and airforce between 2020 and 2023 were released on Thursday, after a drawn-out tussle between Greens senator David Shoebridge and the defence department for the information.

The data, tabled in the Senate, reveals women training in the ADF are facing increasing rates of harassment, despite numerous inquiries exposing the issue over the last decade.

In 2023, 41 per cent of navy members experienced any “unacceptable behaviour” in the previous 12 months, encompassing harassment, bullying, sexual harassment, violent behaviours, and abuse of power. That was lower in the army at 35 per cent, and in the air force at 33 per cent.

Senator Shoebridge said the data revealed “how Defence leadership have utterly failed to deal with bullying, harassment and other unacceptable behaviour in the organisation”.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the survey results were not acceptable, and underscored the need to “improve organisational culture and leadership accountability to increase member wellbeing and safety”.

The release of the data came 10 days after the royal commission into defence and veterans suicide handed down its final report, which found evidence of a toxic culture where abuse, bullying and harassment were often not dealt with appropriately, and subsequently led to declining trust in the organisation.

The commissioners highlighted the “devastating effects” of unacceptable behaviour and made a number of recommendations to mitigate “toxic subcultures” and better support members who experienced unacceptable behaviour to come forward.

The fresh data shows 37 per cent of all recruits at the Australian Defence Force Academy — where nearly all students are aged between 17-25 — reported experiencing unacceptable behaviour in the last year.

The rate was significantly higher among women than men, with 52 per cent reporting such experiences, compared to 32 per cent of men.

That rate had dropped from 60 per cent and 40 per cent respectively in 2022, but the report noted: “between 2019 to 2023, a larger proportion of women than men experienced unacceptable behaviour”.

Thirteen per cent of women reported sexual harassment in 2023, down 10 per cent from the year prior.

Senator Shoebridge said what was particularly telling was that only one in five women made a complaint about what they’d experienced.

“Too often, the reason they give is that no one in a leadership position would have done anything about it,” he said.

While 30 per cent of ADFA women took no action, the rate was higher among men at 46 per cent.

“When you look at the reasons people provided as to why they did not report unacceptable behaviour, it was because ‘it was easier to just keep quiet’, ‘it would not change things,’ and ‘I didn’t want to damage my reputation’,” Senator Shoebridge said.

Across the six other training institutions, rates of unacceptable behaviour increased in 2023.

At the Royal Australian Naval College, the proportion of recruits increased to 57 per cent, although there was not a significant gender difference across the types of behaviour.

Rates of unacceptable behaviour also increased in 2023 at the Kapooka training facility, at Duntroon, and among aviators in training at 1RTU.

At Duntroon, 69 per cent of women experienced any form of unacceptable behaviour compared to a rate of 47 per cent among men.

The data also paints a picture of low morale and growing retention issues within all three arms which has failed to improve over time, with the navy having the highest rate of “intention to leave”.

Low morale in the submarine force — a group set to become more critical as the AUKUS program progresses — has increased by 10 percentage points over the course of a year.

Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh said the results reiterated the royal commission’s findings and underscored the importance of reforming the defence force’s culture

“There is significant work that must be done to improve the culture in Defence and we need to do more to look after our Defence people,” he said.

“These surveys are provided to Defence leadership to identify areas of concern and help inform what actions need to be taken to improve culture.”

Mr Keogh also noted there had been a “significant uptick” in the reporting of unacceptable incidents by witnesses.

“This demonstrates a positive shift in people speaking up for their mates and calling out bad behaviour,” he said.

Senator Shoebridge said the data “should be used to remove senior staff who have failed to provide safe and inclusive workplaces”.

Mr Keogh said the government was committed to improving the lives of defence personnel, veterans and their families.

“As a Government we are committed to responding to all the recommendations outlined in the Royal Commission’s Final Report and we will do so before the end of the year,” he said.