Loading Confidential documents from the Department of Home Affairs obtained by Fairfax Media under freedom of information laws reveal that, in August 2016, top brass were advised of the death of a female "officer recruit trainee". The document was heavily redacted, but reveals that police officers "stated that a suicide note ... found at the scene reportedly made reference to difficulties in the workplace". Fairfax Media has been told the recruit was aged in her 20s and attended a border force course in Melbourne. It is understood that the woman was experiencing personal issues and had also been struggling with the course – in particular, with having failed a psychometric test that she feared would lead to her sacking. Fairfax Media has learnt that conversations the woman held with her superiors confirmed her view that she was poised to lose her job, although she had been offered a chance to sit the test again. The department did not confirm these details.

It is not clear if the woman was attending the border force college or a separate recruit training course. There is no suggestion that bullying played a role in the woman's death. In a statement, the department said it provided access to counselling and other support to all staff associated with "this tragic event". "The department and the ABF provide a range of support services, programs and training to ensure staff are supported," it said, including a counselling hotline, resilience training and individual case management. The documents reveal that mental illness is not uncommon among border force officers. About 35 compensation claims for psychological injuries were made by current and former border force staff officers in the three years to June. They include claims for anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The documents also contain a report showing a border force officer was found to have breached protocols by failing to treat colleagues "with respect and courtesy, and without harassment". All other details of the incident have been redacted. The misconduct was not related to the death of the female recruit. The department did not respond to requests for further information about the incident, including what sanctions were imposed, but said "inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated". Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram at Mr Outram's swearing-in ceremony in May 2018. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "We have taken a number of steps to address these issues within the ABF over the last two years," the department said, citing measures including a culture and behaviour taskforce. However problems appear to remain. A former border force trainee who attended the Australian Border Force College told Fairfax Media that rampant bullying and harassment recently persisted at the organisation. The college was established to train new recruits and existing staff and has campuses in Sydney, Canberra and regional areas.

The source, who did not wish to be identified, said one trainer at a Sydney course was a "bully" who routinely humiliated students. "When people asked questions he rolled his eyes ... the way I saw him treat people in the class, he intimidated them, he would single them out," the former student said, recalling one occasion when a classmate was reduced to tears after being yelled at. "He'd say, 'What don't you get?’" the source recalled. "She didn’t do a couple of things right but you are learning. You learn by mistakes ... she was pretty upset. "The whole culture there, they swagger around, they feel as though they are police officers and they are not."

The former student said training at the college was "really sloppily done". Trainees were forbidden from taking notes in class, making it harder to learn the material. Classes were unstructured, teachers appeared to be unqualified and computer software used in lessons was out of date and did not match that used on the job, the source said. "I just thought, 'I can't do this.' Every day I had anxiety going there. I've never had anxiety through anything else," said the former student, who left the course without finishing it. Another source with knowledge of the college also told Fairfax Media that bullying and harassment was common, and had led to numerous compensation claims for psychological injury. The documents show that, in an email to staff following previous Fairfax Media coverage, Assistant Commissioner Rachel Houghton said "we acknowledge that we haven’t invested sufficiently in the ABF College", including the workforce and curriculum. In a response to Fairfax Media, the department said its senior leadership team had met officers to "clearly communicate expectations of inclusive and respectful behaviour in the workplace and zero tolerance for unacceptable behaviour".