The report said it was possible that male cadets who raped female cadets in the late 1990s, and other cadets who witnessed the assaults and did not intervene, 'may now be in 'middle' to 'senior' management positions in the ADF'. Credit:Andy Zakeli The Prime Minister said the material was "very distressing" and she would not rule any form of response "in our out at this stage". The report, by law firm DLA Piper, said a large number of victims deserved compensation. ''From the 1950s through to the early 1980s, many boys aged 13, 14, 15 and 16 years of age in the ADF [Australian Defence Force] suffered abuse including serious sexual and other physical abuse,'' it said. It was ''likely'' many victims never reported their abuse or assault, and ''a substantial number'' of current and former ADF personnel could be at higher risk of suicide.

The report said it was possible that male cadets who raped female cadets in the late 1990s, and other cadets who witnessed the assaults and did not intervene, ''may now be in 'middle' to 'senior' management positions in the ADF''. It said many of the victims of abuse later inflicted similar abuse on others. The review, sparked by the so-called Skype sex scandal at the Australian Defence Force Academy last year, received "within scope" complaints from 847 people, many containing more than one allegation of assaults between 1951 and 2011. The ''overwhelming majority'' of allegations appeared plausible, and many had not been reported before. None of the alleged perpetrators were named in the report. DLA Piper cautioned that a royal commission could be too expensive and time-consuming. But it also suggested a commission could be used to identify offenders who have never been called to account. The Defence culture discouraged reporting of sexual assault, the report's authors said. They encountered resistance from some current and former leaders of the ADF when they tried to discuss past abuse and what might be done to address its ongoing effects. ''At one level there has been hostility simply because we outsiders - civilian lawyers - have been questioning 'their' ADF on the particularly sensitive issue of abuse by members of the ADF inflicted on other members of the ADF,'' the report said.

''At another level there is a concern that a report … drawing attention to past abuse in the ADF could damage the ADF's current reputation and, thus, damage the ADF's operational capability.'' They said no organisation - let alone one the size and complexity of the armed forces - could expect to be free of abuse across the 60 years the review considered. However, the report highlights a history of inaction in abuse cases. It said the Grey review into allegations of abuse, held in the late 1990s, identified 24 cases of rape at the Australian Defence Force Academy. ''It seems that none of the matters went to trial.'' During the 1950s and 1960s, boys as young as 13 were recruited to the Navy. One of them, now in his 70s, described horrific abuse he suffered at HMAS Cerberus as a 13-year-old cadet. He said he was force-fed rotting food slops until he choked and blacked out, was hosed off, held down and anally raped with a wooden club. The man's account of his experience, the report said, was plausible and was not atypical.

Coalition defence spokesman David Johnston said the government needed to act quickly to address the claims. ''Justice delayed is justice denied,'' Senator Johnston said. ''The government needs to act quickly and sensitively on this and the first priority should be the complainants. Whether or not that is in the form of compensation, an apology or other options, the government needs to move on these matters." Prime Minister Julia Gillard called the material "very distressing" and said she did not want to rule any form of response "in or out at this stage". "What I can say, just as a human being, is that obviously it tears at your heart when you read about these kind of allegations," she told Fairfax Radio in Brisbane. But Ms Gillard said she had met many ADF members who did remarkable work, and she would not want people thinking that the allegations in the DLA Piper report "tell us something" about the whole Defence Force.

Loading "In any big organisation [you] get differences in the people who are in it, differences in the culture and practices," she said. Follow the National Times on Twitter