Royal Commission outlines recruit injury, bullying and reporting misconduct concerns at Kapooka

The second day of Wagga hearings, in the Riverina region, for the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide revealed that about one in 10 recruits suffered an injury while training at the military base.

In contrast, the inquiry said only four in 100 Royal Australian Navy Recruit School, HMAS Cerberus, recruits were injured during training.

"Our course is physical," said Colonel Andrew Deacon, Commanding Officer, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Kapooka.

The highest percentage of reported injuries occurred during field training exercises.

The inquiry also raised concerns that recruits may be delaying the reporting of injuries, something Colonel Deacon said he had come across in his time at the military base.

"It is a very difficult thing to try and improve," he said.

Measures in place to combat unreported or delayed reporting of injuries include making medical services easily accessible to recruits and general staff observations.

"I don't know how to remove it completely as a risk," Colonel Deacon said.

A 2021 workplace behaviours survey of Kapooka also revealed concerns among recruits about bullying, sexual misconduct, abuse of power, violent behaviour and reporting misconduct.

The anonymous survey found that the experience of bullying is trending upwards from two per cent in 2019 to 10 per cent in 2021.

The report showed the instigators of bullying, the most reported misconduct by a considerable margin, were almost equally other trainees and military staff or instructors.

Instigators of abuse of power were found to be almost entirely military staff or instructors rather than other trainees.

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Instigators of violent behaviour were around twice as likely and those of sexual misconduct slightly more likely to be military staff or instructors than other trainees.

Women experienced twice as much bullying and sexual misconduct as men.

Colonel Deacon described the survey results as "concerning".

"Anything that is above zero is something I need to look into in significant detail," he said.

Notably, 66 per cent of 1st Recruit Training Battalion (1RTB) recruits said they took no action in response to unacceptable behaviour, a stark contrast to 30 per cent of the whole of Defence.

Common responses from 1RTB recruits for not reporting unacceptable behaviour ranged from "it was easier to just keep quiet" and "I didn't want to damage my reputation" to "I didn't think it was serious enough".

Despite these figures, 80 per cent of 1RTB respondents stated they felt their immediate supervisor clearly demonstrated that unacceptable behaviour would not be tolerated, roughly in line with the whole of Defence.

Colonel Deacon had not yet received the report in question before his Royal Commission hearing, which he said was delayed in getting to him.

"If I don't have the report, it is very difficult to take action," he said.

The 30 per cent of Kapooka recruits who experienced unacceptable behaviour in 2021 remained lower than the 35 per cent across the whole of Defence.