SENIOR officers still serving in the Australian Defence Force will be among those targeted for investigation by a high-level taskforce that will also have the power to order that victims of sexual and other abuse be paid up to $50,000 in compensation.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith yesterday made a parliamentary apology to people who suffered abuse in the military. He also appointed former West Australian Supreme Court judge Len Roberts-Smith, the father of Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, to head a task force that will investigate 755 "plausible" allegations of brutality going back to the 1950s. Mr Roberts-Smith, formerly one of the nation's most senior jurists, will head a four-person taskforce that will be given whatever powers it needs, including the coercive powers of a royal commission, to investigate sexual and other abuse and make referrals to police if necessary.
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