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

Chapter 10: Minimising Risk, Managing Incidents and Ensuring the Safety of the Workplace – Recommendations 22-31In summary, the findings of the Audit indicate that:• Progress on designing and implementing a sexual ethics and healthy relationships trainingpackage has been slow and an integrated, expert program was not in place in 2012.• The program taught in 2012 did not meet the intent of the Recommendation.• The design of the 2013 sexual ethics program looks promising, but as at March 2013 theAudit has not been provided with any course materials to assess.• ADFA plans to deliver the sexual ethics program internally, without the assistance of anexternal expert facilitator.• ADFA has reformed its complaints reporting response and management training, andfocussed different modules at different parts of the undergraduate population.• Complaints training remains part of ‘equity and diversity’ training, and a separation of theseareas could provide numerous benefits (see Recommendation 7).• The number of complaints made in 2012 and 2013 has increased, but there is still a stigmaattached to using the equity adviser system.• Ongoing training and evaluation on making complaints is needed to ensure that complaintsprocesses are effective.The Audit’s findings in respect of each recommendation follow.Recommendation 22: ADFA, in collaboration with an expert educator,provide cadets with interactive education on:a) respectful and healthy relationships, and sexual ethicsb) the meaning, inappropriateness and impact of sexist languageand sexual harassmentc) the meaning of consentd) the appropriate use of technologye) stalking, controlling and threatening behavioursand evaluate the effectiveness of this education every two yearswith an external evaluator and assess it against key indicators thatmeasure attitudinal and behaviour change.Intent of RecommendationIssues surrounding gender relations, sexual ethics, consent, sexist language and behaviour, andcontrolling and threatening behaviour are not well understood in parts of the undergraduate population.Interactive, expert training would be an effective primary prevention tool against unacceptable behaviourand sexual misconduct, and aid in the development of a more mature understanding of sexual ethics.92