Review into the treatment of women at the Australian Defence Force ...

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Chapter 5: ADFA’s Role and Purpose – Recommendations 1-5The CDF’s reference to ‘world class military and leadership training with a degree from one of thecountry’s leading universities’ was absent in the previous CDF’s message. 6 Also, whilst the messagefrom the previous CDF stated that ‘my priority is the welfare of the people serving in and supportingthe Navy, Army and Air Force’, the current CDF’s message makes a commitment to care, support andencourage midshipmen and cadets.The ADFA Commandant’s message in the 2010 version of the ‘ADFA Guide for Parents and Guardians’is now replaced by a message from the Commander of the Australian Defence College who states that:My top priority is to ensure we help our Midshipmen and Officer Cadets to succeed, but do so ina safe environment. To achieve this, the highly skilled academic and military staff at the Academysupport our Midshipmen and Officer Cadets in all aspects of their training and education.Success in life and the military does not come easily – however I am confident the AustralianDefence Force Academy provides the opportunity for our Officer Cadets and Midshipmen toachieve their full potential.Audit findingsThese are important differences which support the intent of the Recommendation. However, the Auditnotes the variation from its Recommendation which was to reaffirm ADFA’s pre-eminent role. Pathwayto Change 7 and the ‘Broderick Phase One Review Recommendations Progress’ 8 document confirm thatthis Recommendation is ‘Agreed in Principle. ADFA plays an important but not pre-eminent role in theeducation and training of future ADF leaders’.The tension continues to be evident between the Services and ADFA regarding the relative value ofbuilding future ADF leaders in a single Service or a tri-Service environment. This tension is explored laterin this chapter however none of the corporate messaging reviewed by the Audit explicitly states whythe Joint environment is significant or beneficial and what it offers over a single Service environment.The Audit is not aware of the extent to which, if any, these foundational issues have been explored ordebated, however the evidence at hand suggests the continuing primacy of the single Service modelover the tri-Service environment. The Review identified the ambivalence about the ADFA tri-Servicemodel as a threshold issue and the Audit finds that this continues to be at the heart of many of theissues at ADFA.The Audit was provided with two draft introductions from the CDF regarding ADFA’s role and purpose forupload on the ADFA internet website 9 and some feedback provided by COMDT Kafer. 10 These appearto be the precursors to the current message noted above. The Audit notes the suggestion provided byCOMDT Kafer in his feedback, to note that ADFA is at the forefront of cultural reform in the ADF.The Audit supports COMDT Kafer’s intention in this regard as another visible demonstration of thecommitment to reform, why it is necessary and the positive role ADFA is playing. However the Auditnotes that this message or intent does not appear in the public version.Recommendation 2: The CDF issue a strong statement in support ofADFA and demonstrate a visible commitment to it.26
Intent of RecommendationADFA is of strategic significance in training and educating the future leaders of the ADF. An unequivocalcommitment to developing ethical leaders, building military and academic skills and creating aninclusive, equitable environment brings significant benefits to Defence.Implementation actionsThere is evidence that the CDF and VCDF have visibly demonstrated their commitment to ADFAthrough their increased presence at ADFA, through the establishment of the RIT, their support of theimplementation of recommendations and through various corporate messaging as noted above.In interviews and focus groups both undergraduates and staff noted the visible commitmentdemonstrated by senior leadership:In our first six weeks of training we got a speech from each Chief and the CDF all in one week.Our Sergeant who was in charge at the time told us we are really lucky. It took him six years inDefence to even meet one of these Chiefs. So I guess that’s a pretty big change. I don’t know ifthey got that last year, but I appreciated that a lot. 11I think everyone understands that the Chiefs are committed to here. They routinely come and talkto the undergraduates and staff. 12Whilst most staff welcomed this commitment, some felt that the increased visibility and presence of theChiefs was counterproductive. This was summed up by one ADFA staff member who said:In the first week they meet every single high ranking officer at ADFA and surrounds before theymeet their immediate chain of command. So before their OC gets introduced to them, they meetthe Commandant, the Deputy Commandant, they meet COMADC. They’re meeting a Generalbefore they’re meeting their Major. We suggested back in 2010 that perhaps this wasn’t the bestway, but the General wants to meet the undergraduates and tell them how good they are. So theyget this really disproportionate idea of who they are in the organisation…It doesn’t actually helpthe trainees. It doesn’t help us, and it sets them up for failure. 13However not everyone had noticed a change. Nor did they feel that it would make a difference anyway.I don’t know if it really holds much weight at the end of the day anyway…At the start of the year…we saw some sort of statement…but other than that we haven’t really seen too much of themor heard too much from them in regards to ADFA specifically. 14Initially after the reports were released there were the media statements from the CDF and stufflike that. But other than that, it’s not something we do . . . At our level, we see it as above our paygrade. 15Audit findingsThe Audit welcomes the positive impact the presence of the Chiefs and senior ADF staff has had atADFA during 2012. However from documentation received it is not clear whether this represents achange in the frequency or nature of visits as a result of the Review’s recommendations or whether itreflects the status quo. An email exchange between the RIT and ADFA 16 requests ‘a list of dates andADFA events where the CDF and/or senior ADF military staff attend’. The reply states that:Audit Report: Review into the Treatment of Women at the Australian Defence Force Academy • 2013 • 27
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Further InformationAustralian Human
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