More than 170 defence personnel were sacked or disciplined over the allegations around the creation and distribution of explicit and degrading emails, including images of a woman having sex which were taken without her knowledge.



In June 2013 the chief of army, Lieutenant General David Morrison, revealed the Australian Defence Force (ADF) was investigating a large number of military personnel who had allegedly created or shared the “explicit, derogatory, demeaning and repugnant” emails. A number of ADF personnel were sacked over the incident, and several were referred to police.

The army has since terminated the service of 10 soldiers ranked from lance corporal to major – six of them in November last year – in response to the ADF investigation into the allegations, and another 161 officers and noncommissioned officers were identified as involved.

“These individuals received administrative sanctions, such as censures, formal warnings or performance counselling, and/or punishment under the Defence Force Discipline Act,” a defence department spokeswoman told Guardian Australia.

Two soldiers were still under consideration for “administrative action,” she said.

A number of those dismissed included soldiers with overseas combat experience who were suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the Australian reported.

A spokesman for the ADF said while PTSD may be a mitigating factor, “it is not a defence to transgressing defence policy and army values”.

On Tuesday the alleged ringleader of the group, which referred to itself as the “Jedi Council”, pleaded guilty to three charges of using a carriage service to cause offence.

The charges against Hastings Fredrickson related to three emails, and his plea “conceded the content of those emails was offensive,” his lawyer Peter Woodhouse told Guardian Australia. Three other charges were withdrawn.

On the day the investigation came to light, Morrison sent a furious message to ADF personnel via a video address, saying that if the conduct was proven, it had brought the ADF into disrepute and “let down” all current and former serving members.

“Those who think that it is OK to behave in a way that demeans or exploits their colleagues have no place in this army,” he said. “If that doesn’t suit you, get out.”

He said he would be “ruthless in ridding the army of people who cannot live up to its values”.

“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.”