That's My Say

Occasionally organisations realise that they have that have an cultural problem within the organisation.  Throughout time organisations build up a culture of their own. Sometimes they are good and sometimes they are not.

A recent story of a female cadet in the Australian Defence  Force Academy highlights an organisational culture that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) have been battling for sometime.

The story concerns a female cadet who had consensual sex with a male cadet. Now while this in itself a breach of the rules of the academy it is not really such a bad thing. Where it does start to highlight the cultural problems of the ADF is that the male cadet recorded and broadcast the sex on Skype to six cadets in a nearby room. The female cadet was not aware of this and I sure she would not have consented to this.

The problem continues with the females cadet’s allegations that superiors in the academy only gave the offending cadets a very light penalty and then proceeded to bury the matter.

This has been a tactic the ADF has employed for ages. Ignore the problem and it will go away. Well it doesn’t work like that. Just like a festering sore, if you ignore it, it gets worse. The culture and attitudes get more entrenched and members of the organisation continue and escalate the behaviour with a perception that they will be able to get away with it because nothing will be done about it.

Since going public the female cadet has been subject to threats and taunts from fellow cadets. This is unacceptable behaviour and just goes to further highlight the disgusting culture of behaviour and cover up that continues in the ADF.

It has also been revealed that another female cadet who was raped by a fellow cadet was told to” suck it up Princess”.

Well sorry you don’t “suck it up” you report the matter to Police and you sack the offender. If you do not stop the behaviour it will get worse.

The ADF claim they are working to create a better organisational culture yet they are doing exactly the thing that has allowed the culture to become so entrenched in the organisation.

The ADF seems to think it cant do anything because the Australian Federal Police say it is not illegal to film someone having sex without their consent. This is a ridiculous situation but more about that later.

I don’t think it should matter if they broke any laws or not. The fact of the matter is that these men acted in a way that bought great shame on the ADF and behaved in a way that the ADF claim they are trying to stop. The ADF also claim that they are trying to attract more females to the ADF. If this is true then a proper investigation of the matter needs to take place and the cadet who recorded and broadcast the sex needs to have his employment terminated and anyone who watched and or passed on the recording should also be subject to serious and significant disciplinary action, perhaps even termination of their employment as well.

The female cadet also needs to face action for her breach of the rules in having sex with a fellow cadet also.

To do anything less is just plain wrong and will also say to the rest of the world that the ADF does not care about this kind of culture and does not really want to do anything to stamp it out.

The ACT also needs to correct a ridiculous law that allows people to record a sex act without the consent of all parties involved.

If nothing is done about this matter and it is allowed to continue then the culture will continue.

A saying comes to mind that is very applicable here. If you are not part of the solution, the you are part of the problem.

The ADF needs to make sure they are part of the solution, because at the moment they are part of the problem.

That’s My Say