Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

As I rise to address the Defence Force Discipline Amendment (RCDVS Implementation and Related Measures No. 1) Bill 2026, I just want to note the attendance in the Federation Chamber of departmental and Australian Defence Force personnel and want to thank them for talking me through aspects of this bill. The DVA is an organisation which provides so much assistance to our veterans and sometimes is criticised unfairly. I would urge and encourage veterans who need support to reach out to the DVA. It is always there. It is always absolutely wanting to provide the best care and support available to our wonderful veterans. I thank the members in the chamber today for their presence.

I also want to acknowledge the work being played locally in my Riverina electorate in my home town of Wagga Wagga, which is a triservice city. We have the Blamey Barracks, home of the soldier, 1st Recruit Training Battalion at Kapooka. Air power starts at Wagga Wagga at Forest Hill, RAAF Base Wagga. At that particular base we also have 80 or so Royal Australian Navy personnel. So we've got Army, Air Force and Navy in town. The Riverina Veteran and Family Hub RSL Lifecare at 240 Baylis Street plays a vital role for our veterans, as does Pro Patria at 19 Morshead Street, Ashmont. For veterans seeking assistance, or even seeking to get their head around the 122 recommendations of the royal commission, I urge and encourage them to avail themselves of those wellness centres, of those veterans hubs. I thank and commend the people who run those two facilities.

I also thank and commend anybody who has worn a uniform and anybody who is wearing a uniform now, and I encourage anyone who intends to wear a uniform in the future, because our military plays such an important part. We all would have observed that on 25 April, Anzac Day, our nation's most important day. Certainly the 103,000 names on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial bear testimony to the service and sacrifice of so many. The Australian way of life we enjoy today has been secured through the enduring service, the courage and the sacrifice of the men and women who have defended our nation in uniform. In times of natural disaster, peacekeeping service and armed conflict, members of the ADF have consistently served with professionalism and distinction. In doing so, they've provided essential support to communities in need, contributed to international security and upheld this nation's responsibilities abroad and, of course, at home.

Accordingly, in recognition of their service and sacrifice, it's incumbent upon us to ensure that defence members and veterans are treated with the dignity, the respect and the appropriate support as provided by the Riverina Veteran and Family Hub, as provided by Pro Patria and as provided also in Parker Street, Cootamundra. They've got a wellness centre there. I pay tribute to the late Jacquie Vincent, who has only just recently passed, for her almost 40 years of service providing care and love for veterans in and around Cootamundra and elsewhere.

This bill implements recommendations of the royal commission, a royal commission that was established by the former coalition government in 2021. It was necessary. The royal commission was established after the coalition listened to community calls for a national inquiry focused on the systemic issues faced by defence members and veterans that can result in suicide. The suicide statistics are awful reading. Between 1 January 1985 and the end of 2021, there were 2,007 confirmed suicide deaths of individuals who had served at least one day in the ADF. Those are terrible, damning statistics and so tragic. One death is one too many. One suicide is tragic for the community, for the family and for the defence family at large.

When the coalition established the royal commission, we said its aim was to shed a light on the critical steps needed so we could reduce the heartbreaking cases of suicide. The commission confirmed what veterans and their families and the ex-services community had been saying for so long, and they deserve truth, accountability and reform. We also have an obligation to our Defence Force and veteran community to ensure the issues identified by the royal commission are acknowledged and the necessary action is taken.

The men and women of the Defence Force serve our nation with honour and bravery. They deserve the very best treatment, care and support. The royal commission engaged with key advocacy groups to understand the impacts of service, including the families of veterans killed, Australian Peacekeeper and Peacemaker Veterans' Association and the Australian Federation of Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Ex Servicemen and Women. I know that there's a lot of incredible bipartisan support for anything to do with our veterans, and I acknowledge that. As the shadow minister for veterans' affairs, I appreciate the work that the government is doing to help and support our veterans. The coalition acknowledges that this bill provides the necessary framework to implement recommendations 18, 20, 23, 34 and 63 of the royal commission.

Our military justice system is the integral framework which underpins discipline in the military and command. The coalition appreciates that delays in resolving violations of military discipline adversely affects the morale, the welfare and the operational effectiveness of the ADF. Prolonged uncertainty undermines confidence. It places strain on serving personnel, and this can have an effect on unit cohesion, on unit trust and on command authority. Unresolved disciplinary matters may also have implications for the safety and wellbeing of defence personnel and the Defence community, as well as obviously their families. It's especially so when misconduct is serious in nature or has an impact on operational environments. A fair, effective and timely military system is essential in protecting personnel, in maintaining discipline and in ensuring that the Defence Force remains, as it always is, capable, professional and mission ready. Our service men and women deserve nothing less.

The coalition has a long history of actively reforming military discipline in Australia. The former coalition government introduced reforms to update and to modernise the Defence Force Discipline Act, streamlining the handling of minor disciplinary matters and strengthening Defence's response to cyberbullying. These are worrying, growing and disturbing incidents. This sends a clear message that bullying, harassment and unacceptable behaviour have no place within the Australian Defence Force. A strong, fair and effective military justice system is vital to maintaining fairness, discipline, operational effectiveness and confidence in our ADF.

If I go through the bill, it implements key recommendations from the royal commission. Schedule 1 directly implements the royal commission's recommendations 18, 20, 23 and 63. Part 1, schedule 1 introduces amendments to implement recommendation 18 of the royal commission's final report, which called for enhanced safeguards, ensuring alleged victims are not required to work alongside alleged perpetrators whilst investigations are under way.

The bill resolves this inconsistency by inserting a new subsection 98(2), introducing a new suspension power where a member is under investigation for a civil court offence by a Commonwealth state or territory or overseas authority. The power aligns with the existing suspension authority under the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982 for service offence investigations, ensuring a consistent and coherent framework across service, civilian and overseas contexts. These amendments seek to establish a clear and consistent mechanism to enable the suspension of Defence Force members whilst under investigation. Under current arrangements, a Defence member suspected of committing a service offence may be suspended whilst a disciplinary investigation is under way.

Where a member is suspected of a civilian criminal offence, including serious offences, suspension is not available until the formal charge has been laid. As civilian criminal offences are usually investigated by civilian authorities and not service police, this can create some inconsistencies and some unsuitable outcomes, where members may be suspended for minor service related matters yet for more serious criminal allegations such as rape or murder until after charging.

Recommendation 18 only focused on sexual misconduct, but this suspension power is not limited to only those offences. The new suspension power is to apply to investigations which begin on or after the commencement of this part, as well as investigations already under way at that time, and suspension decisions remain subject to existing review mechanisms.

Part 2 of schedule 1 implements recommendation 20 of the royal commission, calling for service tribunals to take into account victim impact in sexual offence cases and to regard an offender's higher rank as an aggravating factor during sentencing. Schedule 2 also gives effect to royal commission recommendation 34, which requires the priority review of provisions related to court martial panels not being required to give reasons for punishments imposed. The schedule introduces a requirement for any conviction and sentencing decision by superior tribunals or reviews to be accompanied by reasons.

We've got schedule 3 part 1 overhauling how the Defence Force Discipline Act deals with accused persons suffering from mental impairment by introducing new powers to allow the dismissal of a charge where the accused suffers from a mental impairment and prosecution would not meaningfully serve the maintenance of discipline. Schedule 4 introduces measures to streamline the military discipline system, reducing delays, broadening access to elections through a superior tribunal and ensuring that minor disciplinary matters are dealt with expeditiously.

Schedule 5 contains 16 parts dealing with a range of other amendments, including updating evidentiary rules, aligning the grounds for termination of judicial officers, strengthening review processes, modernising the powers of investigating officers and introducing removal orders for intimate images. They also enable the provision of evidence by video link, providing for victim impact statements and allowing for the extinguishment of historical homosexual service convictions that would not be offences today.

Schedule 6 establishes a transitional rule-making power to provide for the transition between the existing discipline system and the new legislative framework. This rule-making power is necessary. It deals with unintended outcomes or unforeseen issues arising from the transition from the old DFDA to the new DFDA. This schedule permits the minister, by legislative instrument, to make rules prescribing matters required or permitted by the DFDA or necessary or convenient for carrying out or giving effect to the act.

I do applaud that because I think, for far too long, we've seen some powers taken away from the minister. I do think that ministers always need to have the power to make these sorts of rulings, to make these sorts of provisions and to not necessarily always just go along with what the bureaucrats down the hill tell them to do. I've always been insistent on that because I think, at the end of the day, the buck stops with the minister. The minister's going to be the one who has her or his name on the ballot paper. It's not the not the public servant. It's not the bureaucrat. I appreciate that they do a fine job, but, at the end of the day, the minister has to be responsible because they'll be the one who is entering the parliament. They'll be the one answering questions related to these and other matters in question time.

I do worry about this part of the budget. In the Attorney-General's portfolio additional resourcing in Budget Paper No. 2, page 43 lists '$50.4 million in 2026-27 to continue the work of the Office of the Special Investigator to investigate and support the prosecution of war crimes alleged to have been committed by the Australian Defence Force in Afghanistan.' I do think that some of these provisions are sometimes going to unnecessary witch-hunts. If they prove to be that, they are going to place unnecessary and undue stress upon our veterans. Our veterans served us well in Afghanistan. They did a lot of good work, particularly in giving women and girls opportunities that they would never have been able to avail themselves of under the old Taliban regime or, sadly, the new Taliban regime. I think we should acknowledge and recognise the efforts that they went to, the service and sacrifice that they gave, and the more than 40 soldiers who lost their lives.

We say 'lest we forget' and I think we should absolutely mean that. It's all well and good to go out and commemorate Anzac Day, but we also should remember the constant pressure that those veterans will always be under, for the rest of their lives, for the service that they gave in Afghanistan.

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