David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I present the explanatory memorandum and move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

The Defence Amendment (Sexual Assault Prevention, Intervention and Response Commission) Bill 2025 establishes an independent commission, as a statutory authority, whose purpose is to address sexual assault in the Australian Defence organisation. It puts victims and survivors in Defence at the centre of the system instead of leaving them to navigate their way through a system that too often protects the institution before it protects its people. The bill is unusual in the current age as it is very prescriptive for primary legislation. This was a conscious decision that recognises both the failure to implement the necessary changes through current regulations and that the legal requirements can then only be changed by the parliament.

My office receives a high volume of emails and phone calls from current and former Australian Defence Force members. Many of these people contact my office because they feel abandoned, with nowhere to go. They tell me about sexual assaults that they have been actively discouraged to report, or worse, they are ignored. Reports go missing, investigations drag on for years with no outcome, or their reporting is followed by retaliation and the stigma that follows them long after they tried to speak up. Many have one thing in common—they made the decision to serve their country and were let down by a system that is supposed to keep them safe.

Defence and the parliament have known about these issues for a long time. There have been many reviews raising these issues in a multitude of reports, the most recent being the Royal Commission into Defence and Veterans' Suicide. The commissioners made it clear that sexual assault in Defence is not a new or a one-off problem. It is cultural, systemic and entrenched. Defence's efforts to address the issues have fallen well short and unfortunately the government's progress on this particular issue has been painfully slow. The support systems for the survivors of sexual assault have remained under-resourced. Leadership and accountability have been inconsistent at best, and the inconsistent support retraumatises the victims.

The Bill establishes an independent commission with real powers that address the crucial elements of prevention, intervention and response. It covers investigation, training, data collection, accountability and victim-survivor support and treatment. It sets out clear duties for Defence leaders and the role of staff and members, provides for protection of victims and the expectation of special investigators and prosecutors and evidence handling regime.

The bill makes it clear that if a Defence member commits a sexual assault, or knowingly covers one up, their character and values are inconsistent with expectations of defence personnel and they have no place in the ADF.

This reform is not just necessary, it is urgent. Every day we delay is another day someone in Defence is left without the support they deserve or the justice they are owed.

For too long victims and survivors have been hearing how things are going to change and then seeing nothing really changing. This parliament owes them more than words. We owe them action.

I look forward to continuing my remarks at a later stage.

I seek leave for Senator Lambie to continue her remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.