Defence Minister Richard Marles dodges key questions as ADF’s resistance to interrogation abuse claims mount

Defence Minister Richard Marles has sidestepped critical questions about explosive allegations of abuse within the Australian Defence Force’s interrogation training program, offering only a brief statement as pressure mounts on the government to respond.

The West Australian put a series of detailed questions to the Deputy Prime Minister, including when he was first briefed on the allegations, whether he accepts the findings of the Commonwealth Ombudsman and what responsibility Defence leadership bears for conduct that allegedly occurred over decades.

He was also asked whether the government would consider compensation or apologies for affected personnel, and whether it would contest a potential class action involving more than 200 current and former members.

In response, a government spokesperson did not address the questions directly.

“There is no place for unacceptable behaviour in Defence or any workplace,” the spokesperson said.

“Defence has said that any allegations, including those relating to this training, are taken seriously and are addressed through established processes.”

The limited response comes as Defence this week acknowledged, for the first time, the sickening experiences of personnel subjected to Resistance to Interrogation training, amid escalating allegations of rape, water torture and mock executions.

It followed the Commonwealth Ombudsman’s confirmation this week that it had received 65 complaints under the Defence Abuse Reparation Scheme relating to RTI training, with 57 assessed as meeting the threshold for the most serious forms of abuse.

Those findings followed a three-year investigation and resulted in total payments of almost $3 million to affected personnel.

On Tuesday, The West Australian revealed allegations that Australian soldiers were subjected to torture, sexual abuse and psychological harm during the top-secret training program.

The program — also known as Conduct After Capture — has been examined over two decades through Senate inquiries, a royal commission and legal claims, but is now facing renewed scrutiny as a potential system of institutional abuse dating back to the 1970s.

Accounts provided to the Ombudsman — and seen by The West Australian — included allegations of prolonged sleep deprivation, forced stress positions, hooding, sensory deprivation, mock executions, water torture, sexual humiliation, sexual abuse and, in some cases, rape.

Participants say interrogators also improperly accessed and used soldiers’ personal items, such as photographs of their family, in obscene ways to torture them.

Lawyer Adair Donaldson acts for at least 213 former and current serving ADF members who allege they were abused during the training.

Mr Donaldson said another 40 current and former ADF members, who were exposed to this training, have contacted him this week.

In a 2025 letter to then-Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty and Mr Marles, seen by The West Australian, he outlined allegations of “systemic torture”.

“The best way for me to describe it would be to compare what our men and women have experienced to the horrific images that came out of Abu Ghraib in 2004,” he wrote.

Mr Donaldson has provided Defence with more than 100 signed statements from victims describing their experiences.

“Participants describe being detained, deprived of sleep for prolonged periods, humiliated, stripped, subjected to sexualised conduct, sexual abuse, racial abuse and other degrading treatment while under the control of their own chain of command,” he said.

“The claim is that this conduct occurred without genuine consent and crossed clear legal and ethical boundaries.

“The conduct described by these individuals represents some of the most disturbing institutional abuse I have encountered.”

After failing to resolve their matters with Defence privately, the group is now investigating a potential class action against their former employer.