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In brief
- Military sexual assault survivors will be free to discuss their abuse at an upcoming inquiry.
- The government has waived non-disclosure agreements from the defence department that prevented survivors from speaking out.
Survivors of sexual violence within Australia’s military are now free to share their experiences at an upcoming inquiry, following the government’s decision to lift gag orders that previously restricted them from providing evidence.
In a letter to victims, Veterans Affairs’ Minister Matt Keogh assured them that the government will not enforce any existing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
This decision follows a determined campaign by abuse survivors, whistleblowers, and various civil society organizations advocating for the right to speak out.
Julia Delaforce, a former Royal Australian Air Force airwoman and whistleblower, expressed her support for the move. “Veterans who served this country should not have to ask permission to speak about their lived experiences of military sexual violence,” she stated.
“This amnesty is a crucial step towards removing the legal barriers for military sexual violence survivors, enabling them to safely contribute to the upcoming inquiry and shed light on the institutional systems that failed them,” Delaforce added.
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Delaforce has led a campaign to ban NDAs after her own experience in the Australian military, as revealed to Nine in 2025.
After years spent seeking a resolution after being “trapped in a room with a machete-wielding corporal demanding oral sex”, as Nine reported, instead she signed a settlement with Defence which gagged her from speaking about it.
She said the government’s waiving of NDAs would allow the upcoming inquiry to be more truthful and should lead to a permanent ban on the clauses.
“The upcoming inquiry will only be meaningful if veteran survivors can participate without fear of legal threats, retaliation or being told once again to stay silent,” she said.
Regina Featherstone of the Human Rights Law Centre, which has backed the push, said “the era of cover-up and silencing women must end”.
“We urge the minister to extend these protections with a permanent amnesty for victim-survivors, so the Australian Defence Force can continue to reckon with the problem of sexual violence at the inquiry and beyond,” she said.
The inquiry, due to begin later in 2026, was recommended by the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, completed in 2024.
In Keogh’s letter, seen by the Australian Associated Press, the minister says defence no longer issues NDAs arising from sexual harassment and sexual violence matters, which are now the subject of a facilitated “restorative engagement” process.
The letter also states the government has not waived confidentiality for matters that “do not go to an ADF member’s experience of sexual violence, including … financial settlement details”.
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