A key defence welfare organisation says public reporting ahead of the looming release of the war crimes inquiry report has worsened the mental health of veterans, their families and children, blaming the media for undue “speculation” and “hectoring”.
The findings of the inspector general of the Australian Defence Force, Major General Paul Brereton, will be released on Thursday, and the prime minister has already foreshadowed that the report will be serious, grave and warrant criminal investigation.
Prior public reporting, relying on helmet-cam footage, eyewitnesses and whistleblowers, has shown a small number of Australian special forces troops engaged in heinous acts, including the execution of an unarmed Afghan villager in a field.
The military sociologist whose work triggered the Brereton inquiry, Samantha Crompvoets, has told Guardian Australia the inquiry will force a fundamental change of special forces’ culture to address attitudes that allowed misconduct to occur unchecked.
The government and media agencies have been at pains to make clear the allegations concern only a small group of special forces soldiers and are not reflective of the broader ADF.
But the Defence Force Welfare Association says that distinction has not been coming through in media coverage, and instead that the good reputation of many defence personnel has been tarnished by speculation prior to the report’s release.
“What we are seeing because of the inflammation of the whole issue by media it is having a detrimental effect on the welfare – the mental welfare – not only of veterans but their families and their children,” association president Kel Ryan said. “The media is not helping the situation – it is speculating, it is driving speculation.”
The Guardian has spoken with other support groups who say defence personnel and their families, particularly those in the special forces, are struggling in the face of intense media scrutiny and that public donations for their work are drying up.
Scott Morrison last week flagged the government would make available a “comprehensive package of legal, psychological, medical, pastoral care and social support work” to current and former ADF members affected by the inquiry and its findings.
“Can I say I have absolutely no doubt, no doubt whatsoever, that this is likely to be a very difficult and a very distressing time for those impacted by this report,” the prime minister said.
“Particularly so for those who are vulnerable and those who are at risk. This government is absolutely committed to ensuring that current and former serving ADF members, and of course their family members – any of them who are impacted by this inquiry – have access to the right support.”
The government’s move to set up the special investigator’s office to investigate potential war crimes last week won it widespread praise.
Human rights and legal groups described it as a “welcome and pivotal step”.
“We have been calling for a specialist unit to be established within the AFP for the past two years,” the director of the Australian Centre for International Justice, Rawan Arraf, said.
“It has been the missing puzzle in Australia’s ability to conduct investigations into atrocity crimes and ensure that victims and survivors of these crimes have avenues to access justice.
“The OSI [Office of the Special Investigator] should also include a section that focuses on and ensures victims and their families are included in the process as far as possible.”
