Despite the “Scathing” findings of the inquiry into the Australian Military Justice System, not much has been done, or even promised to be done about it.

The problem, as I see it, is that because the Military Justice System is not independent of the military, they cover up things which have become entrenched in the military way of life – essentially they do not have the same sense of ‘justice’ as a civil court.

Why has all this come about? Because of the entrenched bullying in the defence forces, a number of suicides occur every year in our defence forces. The families of these soldiers have been key to pressuring the government into forcing an inquiry, and now that that inquiry has reported what we all feared, the government is backing down and going all weak-kneed and not doing enough about it.

Most people are more sympathetic to a cause if they know somebody affected with that illness or someone who has experienced the drama and trauma associated with that cause. I’m telling you all this because a friend of mine from highschool committed suicide for what we can only assume was bullying in the army. This is why we need to form opinions of things and why we need to support those courageous people who form an opinion and act on that opinion.

For more information and some comments from Dave’s father, please follow these links. These reports will only be available for a limited time until they are archived by the ABC.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1475598.htm (comments by Daves dad)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1475636.htm (more general info)