General
The IGADF, Secretary of the Department of Defence and Chief of the Defence Force have jointly appointed former Justice, the Hon Duncan Kerr Chev LH SC to conduct a review of the Office of the IGADF. Mr Kerr’s terms of reference are to review the basis by which the statutory office is established, and consider and make findings and recommendations, as appropriate, about the functions, operation and composition of the office established to support the IGADF.
Mr Kerr will deliver his report to the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF), to the Secretary and CDF by 31 March 2024
Term of Reference
The Terms of Reference would seem to afford limited scope for submissions on the conduct of the Brereton Inquiry and appear focussed on specific aspects “...of the office established to support the IGADF.” Those Terms of Reference in our view do give our soldiers grounds to raise concerns about the IGADF and that is “...operation” of the office including the way in which staff of the office or agents contracted or briefed through the office (such as counsel assisting) acted during the conduct of that Inquiry.
We would encourage the Hon Duncan Kerr SC to be receptive to a wide construction of the Terms of Reference so as not to be confined to the ordinary structural operation of the actual office rather than the conduct of a particular inquiry. The very limited scope of the terms of reference of this Review and the fact that it is to be provided (only) to the IGADF, the Secretary of the Department of Defence and the Chief of the Defence Force, could work to limit the opportunity for widespread concerns and complaints about the processes, procedures and conduct of the Brereton Inquiry to be
publicly aired and properly investigated. This risks the Review being perceived as an internally orchestrated “cover-up”.
There are legitimate and heartfelt concerns about certain aspects of the IGADF’s operation. This Inquiry in our view should be broad reaching, accountable and made public. A secret report from this 20 Year Review will fail to meet community expectations. If this Inquiry does not openly reflect community and stakeholder concerns there may be calls for a specific inquiry with well-drafted terms of reference designed to enable that to be done independently of Defence, the IGADF and the CDF, reporting to the Parliament (i.e., Not simply to the Minister for Defence).
Recommendation: It is in the public interest for the 20 Year Review into the IGADF to adopt
a wide construction of the Terms of Reference and for submissions and the report to be
made public.
Recommendation. To ensure this review is credible within the ADF and in the public domain, the government should extend the Terms of Reference to enable the Review to report on conduct and impact of Inquires mounted by the IGADF, or Hon Justice Kerr SC should insist on that being done before proceeding, including an extension of time if
needed.
The Office of the IGADF- Values, Trust and Fairness
The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) is appointed by the Australian Government to oversee the quality and fairness of Australia’s military justice system.
The IGADF publicly states that, “It is our job to promote trust and justice in the ADF and to ensure all defence personnel have access to a fair and impartial military justice system.” and that, “It is our job to ensure the system achieves the right balance -- helping supervisors, managers and commanders to maintain discipline and order in our armed forces, without compromising an individual’s rights to respect, fair treatment and a fair hearing.”
The IGADF’s stated Vision is.
Vision – To be trusted and promote fairness in the ADF Mission – Provide impartial, fair and independent decisions and oversight of matters concerning the ADF Values ➢ Respect – we respect ourselves, our work and everyone we deal with ➢ Integrity – we act with integrity in all aspects of our work ➢ Independence – we uphold the independence of the IGADF ➢
Impartiality – we are impartial in our work and our decision.
The Australian Special Air Service Association ASASA is of the view that, through its conduct of the Afghanistan Inquiry the IGADF failed to live up to its stated spirit, vision, role and duties. A fundamental principle of all the IGADF does should be to ‘do no harm” to veterans. In the case of the IGADF’s Afghanistan inquiry significant harm was done to many soldiers who had bravely served their country.
Recommendation: The Review should find that The AGADF must always live up to its stated spirit, vision, role and purpose.
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