The Government brought forward delivery of the new White Paper by one year from its original 2014 timetable to address a number of significant international and domestic developments influencing Australia’s national security and defence posture internationally and domestically that have emerged since the 2009 Defence White Paper. The White Paper considers in detail the implications...

On 11 April 2011, the Minister for Defence Stephen Smith announced that an external law firm would be engaged by the Secretary of Defence to review allegations of sexual or other forms of abuse that have been drawn to the attention of the Minister’s office, as well as to the Department of Defence and the...

The Review has had before it specific allegations within scope from 847 different people (sources). Many of these sources have more than one allegation within scope. We have allegations across every decade from the 1950s to date. The earliest date of alleged abuse is 1951 (on a 13 year old boy, now a man in...

Defence has a complex accountability system that has evolved over many years. It has its strengths and weaknesses, however Defence has reached a point in its evolution where there is a strong case to redesign its accountability system. Current arrangements are under stress and their failure damages Defence. This stress is manifested in poor outcomes...

The Defence Capability Plan 2009 provides an account of major capital equipment proposals that are currently planned for Government consideration (either first or second pass approval) in the period 2009-2013. A number of substantial programs identified in the 2009 Defence White Paper, Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030 (the White Paper) are...