Defence abuse victims say apology a 'step forward'

Updated November 26, 2012 20:16:33

Victims of abuse within the Defence Force have welcomed the Government’s apology and the prospect of compensation for the trauma they have suffered.

Defence Force Chief General David Hurley has offered a formal apology to people abused within Defence ranks.

It followed a parliamentary apology by the Defence Minister, Stephen Smith.

The apologies are part of the Government’s response to a review which has received about 750 plausible allegations of abuse.

Mr Smith announced a taskforce would be set up to examine the allegations, which may become a royal commission.

One victim, who was abused as a 15-year-old junior recruit at the Leeuwin naval base in Fremantle, says that hearing the word sorry will help in his recovery.

Albert Norley says shortly after arriving at HMAS Leeuwin in 1965, he was savagely assaulted by three senior cadets.

He says it was not just the abuse he suffered, but witnessing attacks on others that has left him scarred.

“That was pretty heartbreaking and it’s something I’ve had to live with, seeing friends beaten by a lot older (recruits)… we were 15-and-a-half-year-old kids,” he said.

Mr Norley was recently diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.

He says the Federal Government’s apology will help him move on.

“To be quite honest, for Stephen Smith to come out and apologise, that’s a big step forward for us,” he said.

Timing of apology

Military compensation lawyer Brian Briggs, who has represented hundreds of victims of abuse within Defence, has also welcomed the Government’s apology.

“I think it was sincere. I’ve got to commend the Minister for coming forward and giving a public apology in Parliament,” he said.

“I know that a lot of my clients and the inquiries that I saw, people were seeking an apology from the Government.

“So I think that will go a long way towards at least in some way compensating them for the historical abuse and for the abuse that’s happened to them whilst they were in the military.”

But Mr Briggs says it could have been more effective if victims were told the apology was coming.

“Unfortunately because of things how it happened this morning, it was so quick that a lot of people wouldn’t have had the opportunity to see the apology yet,” he said.

“It’s a bit of a shame that some of those victims weren’t present in Parliament to actually witness it in person, but again it was pretty short notice.”

Compensation

The Government has stopped short of setting up a royal commission into the wide-ranging claims of abuse, instead opting for an independent taskforce to investigate the issue.

The taskforce will be responsible for overseeing a new compensation scheme that will give victims up to $ 50,000 each.

The taskforce, to be headed by retired West Australian Supreme Court judge Len Roberts-Smith, will be given broad scope in considering the issue of compensation.

Mr Briggs says he is pleased victims will not have to go to extreme lengths in pursuing compensation.

“Len Roberts-Smith in his statement this morning made it clear that it’s not going to be over the top with respect to proving beyond reasonable doubt that you’re a victim of abuse,” Mr Briggs said.

“And it seems that the standard or the level that they have to reach will not be on strict evidentiary criteria, so that’s a good thing.”

Mr Norley says he will be seeking compensation.

He says the abuse he suffered affected his marriage and his relationship with his children.

“So my 32-year-old daughter and son, other daughter have grown up with a father that they didn’t know what was wrong with,” he said.

“I never went on holidays with them, per se, because I didn’t like being away from the house. I’d like to stay at home.

“Because I didn’t like to be out in sort of, public access, for want of a better word. It’s affected my entire life, from the day it happened.”

Topics: defence-forces, defence-and-national-security, federal-government, government-and-politics, sexual-offences, australia

First posted November 26, 2012 20:07:35

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