By Andrew Stackpool
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ADF
Tri Service Logo
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ON
THE first day of my appointment as CDF I drew a line in the sand.
I publicly stated that neither I nor my Chiefs would tolerate
harassment or bullying of any sort.
On
August 4 this year, I told the Senior Leadership Group:
“I expect you to get out there
and ensure that your subordinates, right down to the lowest
level in your organisation, are treating our people in the right
way.
Everybody
under your command, and I mean everybody, should be treated
with respect and get a fair go.
That’s the Australian way, that’s the ADF way and
I expect to see that right across the three Services and right
across the whole Defence organisation.
And when I talk about our people I’m not just talking about
the permanent people, I’m also talking about our reservists
and I’m also talking about civilians.”
While
progress has been made in many areas, incidents of harassment,
bullying and sexual offences still occur and continue to hinder
the establishment of a safe and productive environment.
The continued existence of hostile attitudes and inappropriate
behaviour, particularly towards women, and the toleration of these
by our leaders at all levels, is affecting both the retention
of staff across the board and the attraction of talented recruits.
Much of the solution to preventing this behaviour rests with each
one of you. Engaging in or tolerating any form of harassing behaviour
is a values and leadership issue.
To do either of these is fundamentally at odds with our culture
and ethos.
Those who seek to be current and future leaders in our organisation
must adhere to standards not only in their own conduct, but also
in their response to the behaviour of others. To observe harassing
behaviour and do nothing about it is to condone it.
This is not about dobbing in a mate. It is about treating everyone
with the respect and courtesy that we expect to be shown to ourselves.
It’s about having pride in the reputation of our own ship,
unit, flight or workplace and knowing that our actions reflect
not only on the ADF, our Service and Defence as a whole, but our
families as well.
It’s about giving each other a fair go.
Air
Chief Marshal Angus Houston
Chief of the Defence Force
