A former member of the Australian army says he still has trouble sleeping after being bullied, maimed and sexually assaulted as an apprentice.
Kyle Hose was just 15 years old when he joined the army as an apprentice in 1984, following in the footsteps of his father and older brothers.
Mr Hose initially showed promise as a soldier but his ability to perform deteriorated when he was moved to live in barracks with senior apprentices.
As one of the smallest and youngest, Mr Hose described to the veterans royal commission being treated as a "weak link" and was consistently harassed physically and mentally by other apprentices and some superiors.
During his trade training, an older apprentice - who he did not know - broke into his room at night on three separate occasions and sexually assaulted him.
The third time, Mr Hose managed to scare the perpetrator out of the room and found a piece of plastic that had been used to unlock his door.
"It was a well worn piece of yellow plastic ... I assumed that was because it had been used many times and there were possibly other people who had been impacted by this behaviour," Mr Hose told the royal commission on Monday.
"I still have trouble sleeping as I lay in bed at night waiting for the door to unlatch and be set upon."
Mr Hose said everyone in the barracks was warned not to speak up against their peers.
He did not tell anyone about the assault because he thought it would escalate the situation further and he would be subject to more brutal attacks.
After turning to drugs and alcohol to cope with the impacts of the assaults and bullying, Mr Hose was dishonourably discharged for marijuana possession in 1990.
Since being discharged he has at times been unemployed, attempted suicide and diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
"After the impacts of what happened to me in 1985, I was segregated from my faith which had a huge impact for the rest of my life," he told the commission.
"Coming forward in March 2021 and revealing my story has allowed me to start the recovery process where I have returned to my faith and by speaking up at this commission I am trying to help any other survivors and veterans."
A Defence representative rejected Counsel assisting Kevin Connor SC's claims the department had not implemented a Department of Productivity recommendation for Defence and Veterans' Affairs (DVA) to urgently develop a single veterans' lifetime mental health strategy made in June 2019.
Director General Health Policy Programs and Assurance David Morton said work was underway to create a single aligned strategy and it would be released in one to two years.
"Defence has progressed to develop a holistic strategy that is inclusive of not just our ADF members but our Australia public service personnel as well," he said.
He said the work included consultation with Veterans' Affairs to overcome the different requirements of the two groups the departments oversee.
"The Defence mental health and well being strategy, if you look at its population that it is serving, has a broader population than the Department of Veterans' Affairs," he said.
ADF Surgeon General Rear Admiral Sarah Sharkey RAN agreed a single strategy had not been urgently developed but said extensive work was underway.
"There was significant conversations and deliberations across the departments in relation to meeting the intent of this particular recommendation," she said.
She said DVA had updated its strategy and the ADF had released a strategy in 2017 that met the intent of the recommendation.
"So, the intent was delivered in addition to a commitment between the departments to align the life of those strategies with working towards a single strategy in 2024," she said.
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