Women training in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) are increasingly facing harassment, despite numerous investigations highlighting the problem.

The results of the 2023 Workplace Behaviours Survey – only made public by order of the Senate – show that women are significantly more likely than men to experience general and sexual harassment in ADF institutions.

The data builds on the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veterans Suicide, which sought to investigate the prevalence and impact of sexual violence in the ADF more broadly.

The commission found that while men serving in the ADF were subject to sexual harassment, women were much more likely to experience this type of behaviour – a finding supported by the latest statistics from the survey.

Only one institution managed to cut interest rates in 2023.

The ADF careers website proudly tells women they can “do what they love, without limits.”

However, as recent survey results from a range of ADF institutions show, the experiences of many people training to join the armed forces are different:

Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), Royal Australian Naval Academy (RANC), Royal Australian Naval Recruit School (RANRS), Royal Military Academy, Duntroon (RMC-D), 1st Recruit Training Battalion (1RTB), No. 1 Recruit Training Unit (1RTU) and the Officers Training School (OTS).

Of the seven institutions, rates of unacceptable behaviour towards women – including harassment, intimidation and violence – fell to just one: ADFA, with more than half of women saying they had been exposed to such behaviour.

At the Royal Australian Naval College and Officer Training School, the rates remained stable, with 58 per cent and 39 per cent of women reporting this in the survey, respectively.

All other institutions saw their rates increase in 2023, with RANRS and 1RTB seeing the largest increases of 15 per cent each.

Sexual harassment also remains common, although more institutions have managed to reduce its incidence.

In ADFA 2023, women were almost seven times more likely than men to report having been victims of sexual harassment, with 13 percent of women reporting that they had been victims of sexual harassment.

The RANC study found that men and women were similarly likely to experience harassment, but women were almost five times more likely to experience sexual harassment – ​​14 per cent said it had happened to them.

Women in RANRS, OTS and RMC-Duntroon reported that the rate of sexual harassment was five times higher than that experienced by men in these settings.

Trusting senior colleagues to deal with a matter in a sensitive and confidential manner was a key concern cited by those who chose not to make formal complaints.

The women training at Duntroon had significantly less confidence in management to deal with these issues effectively than their male colleagues.

Although indicators remain high in many training centres, some progress is visible.

At ADFA, the rate of sexual harassment reported in the survey dropped from 36 percent to 13 percent between 2021 and 2023.

In Duntroon during this time the rate rose from 27 per cent to 10 per cent.

“When I was deployed to Iraq, I got a rape alert… One of the biggest threats was that I was raped on base.”

The latest figures come more than a decade after the federal government commissioned a review of the treatment of women in the Australian Defence Force.

It said some ADF workplaces were highly sexualised environments which “can be particularly degrading to women”.

A 2018 study commissioned by the defence found that cases of sexual violence against men are likely underreported, although women are still disproportionately affected.

“Reported cases of sexual violence across the armed forces indicate that a significant number of men serving in the ADF will experience sexual violence,” the report says.

The release of the latest statistics confirms the findings of the royal commission into veterans’ suicides that sexual violence remains a serious problem in the defence sector.

During the hearings, former ADF member and Veterans Retreat Director Kylie James described threats women faced from their fellow service members.

“A lot of veterans are surprised when I tell them that when I was deployed to Iraq, I got the rape whistle,” she said.

“Their minds are blown because they weren’t… We were given separate guidelines and that was one of our biggest threats, rape on base.”

The government does not disclose whether it will follow all the recommendations.

The royal commission made a number of recommendations to address the issue, including calling on the federal government to commission independent research into sexual trauma in the military and to urgently ensure that the ADF has a complete and credible record of all serving members who have been convicted of sexual offences.

The ABC has asked Defence Minister Richard Marles whether the government will commit to these recommendations.

His office did not directly address the issues, but said in a statement that the survey results show there is still much work to be done.

“The Government also remains committed to delivering on the key recommendations contained in the final report of the royal commission and remains steadfast in its commitment to defence personnel, veterans and their families.”

NSW Greens senator David Shoebridge, who has been pressing the defence to release the documents, said the data should be used to remove older workers who failed to provide a safe workplace.

“It is no wonder the defence has sought to suppress this data, as it shows that defence leadership has failed utterly to address bullying, harassment and other unacceptable behaviour within the organisation.

“Perhaps one of the most telling facts is that only one in five women in the defence filed a complaint about unacceptable behaviour they experienced, too often citing the reason that no one in a position of authority would do anything about it.”