Australia's Army chief has used a speech in London to argue that militaries that exclude women "do nothing to distinguish the soldier from the brute".

The four-day Global Summit To End Sexual Violence has ended with 155 countries signed up to a declaration to end impunity for rape in war.

Lieutenant General David Morrison is already well known for a video address to his forces during a sexual abuse scandal last year, where he told sexist members of the armed forces to "get out".

Sharing the stage with the UNHCR's special envoy Angelina Jolie and British foreign secretary William Hague, Lt Gen Morrison called on women to serve in all roles in armed forces across the world.

"I'm no sociologist, I have no anthropological training but I'm certain of this ... we live in a world where the squandering of women's talent, the traducing of their potential, is a global disgrace," he said in the speech.

He said some militaries were changing their culture in order to become more capable and that was cause for hope.

"Armies that revel in their separateness from civil society, that value the male over the female, that use their imposed values to exclude those that don't fit the particular traits of the dominant group, who celebrate the violence that is integral to my profession rather than seek ways to contain it ... they do nothing to distinguish the soldier from the brute," he said.

Lt Gen Morrison encouraged militaries around the world to open up all areas of service to women as a way of changing their culture and helping end sexual violence.

"It wipes away the barriers to achieving potential and sends a clarion call to all who serve that talent will prevail, not gender," he said.

Army will take action on rape claims if necessary: Morrison

The speech comes just days after a Four Corners investigation into sexual abuse at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) uncovered cases of rape and sexual assault from the 1990s where the alleged perpetrators are either serving ADF officers, or are still working for Defence.

At the summit, Lt Gen Morrison said he had not seen the Four Corners program and so was unable to comment on it.

"But I would go to the very strong message that the Chief of the Defence Force, David Hurley, has made both before and after the screening of the program on Four Corners last week, and that is that we take these matters as seriously as is absolutely possible," he said.

"When we have established a case to answer, we will take action should we be able to do so.

"No one is going to be able to conduct what is alleged in some cases to have been done with impunity. That's just not going to happen."

'Powerful message' from Morrison, says Scott Despoja

Australian delegation head Natasha Stott Despoja said Lt Gen Morrison was a "bigger star" at the conference than Jolie.

"He had a powerful message," Ms Stott Despoja told reporters.

"He reminded people, both in the symbolism of him standing up there in his uniform but also with his words, that the military have a key role to play in ending this awful, abhorrent, sexual violence in conflict."

Lt Gen Morrison acknowledged he had received some "notoriety" for making a stand against sexist behaviour in the military but insisted he was not the star of the London summit.

"The star of the show were men and women of all ages and of all levels of seniority - some in government, some just with NGOs or with youth groups - who have travelled the world over to come and make a statement about ending sexual violence in conflict," he said.

"It was just a privilege to be a part of it."

Ms Stott Despoja said the role of victims and survivors was "fundamental" in helping governments prevent future violence.

"We need to remove the stigma and the shame associated with what they've been through and move it onto the perpetrators," she said.

She was quizzed about Australia's treatment of asylum seekers, some of whom may have suffered sexual violence in warzones.

"I'm always concerned about anyone who has experienced violence, and in particular sexual violence - whether that's a man, a woman, a boy or a girl - ending in another institution be that a detention centre or elsewhere," she said.

The summit also endorsed a new protocol relating to the investigation and documentation of sexual violence in conflict areas.

Australia is soon to launch its second national action plan to ensure roles for women in peacekeeping.

Australia has lifted the restriction on women serving in combat roles with internal transfers opening in January 2013.

Women recruits will be able to apply direct for combat units from 2016.

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