LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Rarely does a serving Army officer publicly unleash on the top brass of the Australian military. But tonight, a senior Defence psychologist has broken ranks to blow the whistle on Defence Force culture.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Morgan is accusing his superiors of neglecting abuse victims, covering up abuse cases and ignoring his own complaints.

He's well qualified to speak. Not only does he play a crucial role in the mental health of Australian soldiers, but he too is the target of abuse, a vicious gay hate campaign.

Now after years of lobbying in-house at Defence, he's decided enough is enough.

He spoke to reporter Hayden Cooper.

HAYDEN COOPER, REPORTER: It's the annual Mardi Gras parade in Sydney. And a milestone moment for gays and lesbians in the military. They're marching in uniform for the first time.

NAVAL OFFICER: It makes us especially proud to carry the banner this year when we are marching as a uniform contingent. I'm very proud of our country.

NAVAL OFFICER II: Oh, it's fantastic. It's something that I've wanted to do for a very long time. Yeah, it's great.

HAYDEN COOPER: One man has fought harder than most for this breakthrough, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Morgan. He's given the honour of leading the Army contingent.

PAUL MORGAN, JOINT HEALTH COMMAND, ADF: Well, yeah, it's incredibly important. We haven't been allowed to march in uniform before. This is the first time. I wonder if it's the first time in the world that gays and lesbians have marched in uniform.

HAYDEN COOPER: Colonel Morgan is one of the most senior gay men in the Australian Defence Force. He's also a victim of abuse.

For the first time, tonight, he breaks ranks and breaks Defence rules by agreeing to this interview. His message is blunt, compelling and damning of the Defence Force's handling of abuse cases.

PAUL MORGAN: I'm speaking out because I'm concerned about the well-being of our junior soldiers who are experiencing abuse in Defence today. If I, as a senior officer, can't get Army to do the right thing, they have absolutely no hope. All forms of abuse are neglected within Defence, including sexual abuse victims.

HAYDEN COOPER: Over 16 years, Colonel Morgan has served all over the world, including Iraq and East Timor. Now he's a senior Army psychologist. At Defence's Joint Health Command, he's the leading policy officer responsible for the mental health of Australia's deployed soldiers and he's seen up close Defence's reaction to more than a thousand abuse allegations dating back 50 years.

Has Defence improved the way it treats these issues?

PAUL MORGAN: I can categorically say that no matter all of the cultural reviews, establishment of the abuse tribunal and the DLA Piper report, nothing has changed about the way Defence reacts to abuse.

HAYDEN COOPER: Nothing?

PAUL MORGAN: Nothing. From my personal experience, nothing has changed.

HAYDEN COOPER: Why not?

PAUL MORGAN: I'm not really sure why not, but I suspect that our senior leadership just doesn't care.

HAYDEN COOPER: It was a year ago this week that Defence released Pathway to Change, the official road map to ending abuse and discrimination.

But what was really changed?

PAUL MORGAN: Absolutely nothing has changed since the release of Pathways to Change a year ago. My personal experience tells me that the Army's abuse management strategies that I've seen of delay, deter and deceive are still in full swing.

HAYDEN COOPER: How would you describe the attitude of the senior generals in Defence to treating abuse?

PAUL MORGAN: Whenever I think about meeting a general, the first question that would come to my mind is, "So you've been in the Army for 30 to 40 years. Why didn't you do something about the culture of abuse? And why aren't you doing something now?"

HAYDEN COOPER: Lieutenant Colonel Paul Morgan's own case is confronting. In 2010, a Facebook page was set up by a former soldier targeting Colonel Morgan and several other gay members of the military. It accused them of a filthy lifestyle decision. Dozens of other Defence employees joined the Facebook group. Colonel Morgan also received an explicit death threat on email.

EMAIL (male voiceover): "I will cut your homosexual carcass into 100 pieces to feed you to the marine life in Botany Bay."

PAUL MORGAN: I remember flying to Melbourne to beat the morning newspapers to tell my parents about the fact that my colleagues were targeting me and joining in with someone who'd threatened to kill me. And not only that, but the Army was refusing to discipline them. I remember their tears, their fear and I still feel guilty to this day that I put them through that.

HAYDEN COOPER: What were the failures in Defence leadership in handling your case?

PAUL MORGAN: Every officer in my chain of command, every colonel and general, all the way through to the current Chief of Army, Lieutenant General David Morrison, systematically failed their duty in relation to the management of my complaint.

HAYDEN COOPER: Colonel Morgan says it was never taken seriously and key response deadlines were not met.

PAUL MORGAN: The Defence instructions are legal obligations and they require certain actions to be taken in the first 24 hours after an abuse complaint is made. What happened in my case is the actions required in the first 24 hours took 51 days to be completed. The actions required in the first seven days weren't completed for 21 months.

HAYDEN COOPER: Although a breakthrough, marching in last weekend's Mardi Gras was bittersweet for Colonel Morgan. He clearly doesn't hide his deep frustration with Defence bosses; nor he says does the gesture mask Defence efforts to cover up abuse cases. He recalls vividly the reaction at work after he made a written submission on abuse to a Senate inquiry.

PAUL MORGAN: The day my submission to the Senate was published, I was hauled in by a two-star officer for an unscheduled interview and hauled over the coals. I was told that they were concerned that I was too focused on abuse and should spend less time on that and more time doing my work.

HAYDEN COOPER: So stop talking about it.

PAUL MORGAN: Yeah.

HAYDEN COOPER: As a psychologist, Colonel Morgan is determined to stay in the Army, a job he does because he says he wants to serve the country. But he has no faith in the Defence hierarchy.

How would you describe Defence's performance in treating and handling case of abuse?

PAUL MORGAN: Defence is appalling at treating cases of abuse. ... I don't have anything positive to say about Defence's handling of abuse and its mental health consequences. There's no support worker, there's no program, there's no policy on the abuse and mental health in Defence. Our senior leadership says one thing to the public and does another thing in private. The way Army deals with abuse is entirely consistent with how you would run a cover up.

HAYDEN COOPER: He also has little confidence in the abuse taskforce headed by a former military man, Len Roberts-Smith, and instead advocates an independent approach.

PAUL MORGAN: We need an outside body to step in immediately and look after the current serving victims of abuse in Army.

HAYDEN COOPER: In the meantime, Colonel Morgan wants serving abuse victims to contact him. He knows he's on dangerous ground. Merely speaking to the media could cost him dearly. But this Army veteran is undeterred and unwilling to stay quiet.

Do you expect any backlash for doing this interview?

PAUL MORGAN: Every time I or a member of my family has asked Defence to account for its inaction, there's been a backlash.

HAYDEN COOPER: You could lose your job over this.

PAUL MORGAN: Yes, possibly.

HAYDEN COOPER: But you're speaking out anyway.

PAUL MORGAN: The issue is that there are hundreds of abuse victims currently serving in the Defence force today and somebody has to say something. If not me, then who?

LEIGH SALES: Hayden Cooper reporting.

Lt Col Paul Morgan is urging other Defence Force abuse victims to contact him personally at shameofanation@hotmail.com(.)

You can also watch the full interview with Lt Col Morgan.