Military Sexual Trauma Research Project - Written submissions

In this research project, we will do an online survey, hold consultations (focus group or interview) and take written submissions from current and ex-serving ADF members.

This form is about the written submissions.

We are doing this research to understand how common military sexual trauma is among current and ex-serving members of the ADF and to learn directly from victim-survivors who have experienced it.

We want to understand:

• how common military sexual violence is
• how common military sexual trauma is
• the impacts of military sexual trauma
• what victim-survivors say they need
• what needs to change so responses are safer and more effective.

This project is organised and run by the AHRC as part of Recommendation 14 of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide (RCDVS). The project team is led by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, and the team acts on its own within the AHRC.

To provide a written submission, you must be:

• a current ADF member (SERCAT 3-7)
• currently 18 years of age or older
• located at a participating base:
  • HMAS Albatross
  • HMAS Watson
  • HMAS Stirling
  • Lavarack Barracks
  • Robertson Barracks
  • RAAF Townsville
  • RAAF Edinburgh
  • ADFA

OR

• an ex-serving ADF member that served between 2011 – 2026
• currently 18 years of age or older
• located near a consultation location

This project is not open to everyone. It is not open to:

• current or former Defence civilians, contractors, and other civilians who work alongside ADF members, except if you have previously served in the ADF and left service within the last 15 years
• current or ex-serving ADF members who are under the age of 18.
• current ADF members who are not located at one of the participating bases
• ex-serving members who left service prior to 2011

Military sexual trauma refers to the lasting psychological harm that can result after experiences of sexual harassment or sexual assault during military service.

These experiences are often described as military sexual violence. This means unwanted or unwelcome sexual behaviours carried out against a service member in the course of their military service. It can happen on or off Defence premises, while a service member is on or off duty.

It may include behaviours used by fellow service members, ADF civilians, Defence civilians, ADF contractors, foreign military personnel, or others encountered in military settings.

Military sexual violence can include:

• sexual harassment
• sexual assault
• sex discrimination or discrimination based on sex
• sharing intimate images without consent
• stalking
• other sexually threatening behaviour.

Sexual violence in a military setting can feel different from civilian life because of things like rank, chain of command, close living and working conditions, a culture of silence, and expectations around service and loyalty. Military sexual trauma refers to the impact these experiences can have over time. It can include trauma responses, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and/or thoughts of suicide – especially when a person does not feel heard, protected, or properly responded to.

Not everyone who experiences military sexual violence will develop military sexual trauma. However, there is a strong link between the two, and understanding this link is important to improving how victim-survivors are treated within Defence and veteran systems.

Taking part is up to you

You get to decide whether you take part in this project. You can say yes or no.

If you choose not to take part, there will be no detriment to your career or future health care.

You can change your mind at any time

If you do take part, you can withdraw at any time before you complete your submission. There will be no detriment to your career or future healthcare if you withdraw. Because written submissions are anonymous, we will not be able to remove your contribution from the project once it is submitted.

Please only join this project if you are comfortable with this.

The project might stop for other reasons

We might need to stop the project while you are taking part. If this happens, we will explain the reasons to you.

We may also ask you to stop taking part in the project if it is no longer in your best interests. If this happens, we will discuss this with you.

If you take part in this project, you can provide a written submission (in addition to or instead of participating in a consultation), which will take up to 45 minutes.

Current Defence members are deemed to be ‘on duty’ while participating in research.

The table below outlines what you will be asked to do in this project. For more information, please ask a member of the project team at mst.research@humanrights.gov.au.

By taking part, you will help the researchers understand more about military sexual trauma, including:

• the systems and culture that leads to military sexual trauma
• the factors and conditions that may increase risk of military sexual trauma
• how responses can help or hinder victim-survivors’ mental health.

This will help inform decisions about improving systems, services and outcomes for people who have been affected by military sexual trauma.

This knowledge may help people in the future.

You might not directly benefit from taking part in this project.

There are potential risks to you from taking part in this research project.

Chance of distress

The questions in the written submission cover sensitive topics and this may cause you distress. If this happens, you can take a break  or stop doing the written submission at any time.

This project won’t offer counsellors or personally connect you with support services, the police or the courts. It also won’t fix any problems from past experiences with sexual violence. Because there are no counsellors as part of this project, it’s better if you don’t share details about your experiences. It could be upsetting, and we care about your wellbeing.

Here is a link to a list of free services that provide counselling or psychological help. We will also include this link at the end of the submission form.

Pressure to participate

It is unlikely, but you may feel pressured to participate in the project. Whether you participate is entirely your decision. If you choose not to participate there will be no detriment to your career or future healthcare. You may withdraw from participating at any time.

Re-identification

Please do not include information that could identify you or others in your survey responses. The AHRC also cannot guarantee that individuals cannot be re-identified from the information provided.

You should only share information that you are permitted to disclose. For example, do not disclose legal advice, communications with lawyers, litigation strategy, draft evidence, confidential settlements or settlement discussions, information covered by a confidentiality clause or non-disclosure agreement, or any information subject to a court order or other legal restriction. If you are unsure whether you can disclose information, you should seek independent legal advice.

AHRC may have an obligation to disclose your personal information to a third party under certain circumstances

Written submissions are anonymous. We ask that you avoid including names or identifying details in your written comments. However, if you choose to include identifying information in any open-text responses or share certain personal details, the following may apply.

The AHRC will comply with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) to keep your personal information private. There are some circumstances where the AHRC project team must disclose personal information you share with us to a third party. These circumstances are outlined below.

1. In all states and territories, if the AHRC project team reasonably believes we need to disclose information you have shared with us to a third party to lessen or prevent a serious threat to life, health or safety of any individual or public safety, we may do so. The AHRC project team must take all reasonable steps to seek your consent before disclosing your information to a third party.
2. If you share information about harm that has happened or is likely to happen to you or another person because of domestic and family violence in the Northern Territory and the police have not been notified yet, we must report what you have told us to the police. The AHRC project team will take all steps to inform you of our obligation before contacting the police. We will be guided by you, as much as possible, about how and when the police should be told.

The AHRC has obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth) and documents provided to or created by the AHRC may have to be disclosed by the AHRC in response to a Freedom of Information request, noting there may be relevant exemptions to disclosure.

AHRC will not share your information with Defence.

Participants are advised of the above reporting obligations and participants should avoid disclosing any information that may cause harm to themselves or others.

This section tells you how this research project will collect, store, use, share and/or dispose of your information. If you do not want us to collect this information, you cannot participate in this project. If you would like to know more, see our Privacy Policy.

The information collected during the project will be used to:

• analyse and identify key themes and findings
• develop case study examples for the purpose of communicating about the findings of the Project
• prepare policy or practice recommendations for the ADF
• compose and publish resources and a final report.

Collecting your information

We will collect information for the project directly from you. We will ask for:

1. sensitive information like your sex, gender identity, age, how you identify your race or ethnicity, your sexuality, your rank, your base, and if you have a disability
2. your thoughts about helpful and unhelpful responses to military sexual violence and what you think should change to help victim-survivors.

Keeping your information safe

To keep your information safe, we will:

• follow all relevant privacy requirements
• store information securely on the AHRC’s SharePoint workspace with access restricted to the Project Team
• take steps to prevent anyone from accessing information that identifies you unless they are authorised to do so
• give information a code and keep them separate from your name or contact information.

For all privacy-related complaints, requests and enquiries, you can contact the AHRC’s Privacy Officer at privacy@humanrights.gov.au.
If you have any complaints about how we are managing your personal information, you can also contact ddva.hrec@defence.gov.au.

AHRC collects and handles personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Archives Act 1983 (Cth) and our Privacy Policy. Under Records Disposal Authority 2003/00211156 – ‘Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission: Complaints handling; Human rights compliance’, issued by the National Archives of Australia, we will keep your information for a minimum of 5-10 years. The National Archives of Australia requires ongoing retention of records on ADF and veteran suicides, suicide prevention, and Defence abuse allegations. Project data is included and may need to be kept beyond 10 years while these requirements remain in place.

After this, we will permanently remove any information that directly identifies you but keep the de-identified information.

Sharing your information with others

We will share some of your information with these organisations:

• The project’s Expert Advisory Committee and Government Committee: we will share de-identified data via updates to these key governance committees.
• The Defence and Veterans’ Services Commission (DVSC):we will share de-identified data for the Inquiry into Military Sexual Violence (see below).
• Departments of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs High Risk Ethics Committee (DDVA HREC): in accordance with DDVA HREC Standard Operating Procedures, we may be asked to share study documentation as part of monitoring, auditing or inspections. This will not include sharing any identifiable data.
• Other parties if legally required: By law, we may be required to share your information with others in certain circumstances as outlined on pg.6.

Publishing project information

We will share certain information from this project so that others can use it and understand the study findings. We may use quotes, excerpts, summaries or case examples taken from what you have shared, but no information that may identify you will be published. We will make this project information available through an AHRC report and resources. By being in this project, you agree to us sharing project information for these purposes.

Sharing your data may help improve new research projects in the future. When we share your data, we will take steps to make it difficult for anyone to link this data back to you. This includes removing information that could easily identify you, like your name or contact information. There is still a small chance that someone could identify you again.

By participating in this project, you agree to us sharing your de-identified data for research that is closely related to this project, namely the DVSC Inquiry into Military Sexual Violence (RCDVS Recommendation 25). This Commission is separate and independent from Defence and from the AHRC. Information about the Inquiry is available here.

If you agree to share your data, you will not be told about any results from this project.

More information about how we will handle your personal data is available in the AHRC Privacy Policy.

This project is being organised and run by the AHRC.

The project is receiving funding from The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The ethical aspects of this research project have been approved by the DDVA HREC.

This project will be carried out according to the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2025). This statement has been developed to protect the interests of people who agree to participate in human research studies.

Comments or complaints about how this project is being run

If you have any complaints or concerns about the way this project is conducted, please do not hesitate to contact the researchers at mst.research@humanrights.gov.au, or you may prefer to contact the DDVA HREC Secretariat on Telephone: 0473 659 822 or via ddva.hrec@defence.gov.au.

Thank you for taking the time to read this information about our project. You can contact a member of the project team at any time to ask questions.

Phone: (02) 9284 9600 to reach:

Hashini Panditharatne              Lead, Director (Prevalence)

Erica Powell                                 Director (Consultation and Engagement)

You can find out more information about the project by visiting our website: Military Sexual Trauma Research Project.