Statement from the Royal Commission

A statement regarding publication of the 20-year Review of the Office of the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force

"The Review of the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force by Justice Duncan Kerr was provided to the Royal Commission under compulsory notice, as part of its three-year inquiry into the cultural and systemic issues contributing to high rates of suicide and suicidality in Australia's Defence and veteran population.

The Commonwealth Government's lawyers were given notice that the Commission intended to tender the document as evidence. At the request of the Commonwealth Government's lawyers, the Royal Commission made certain redactions to the IGADF Review report. It was tendered as evidence to the inquiry in May 2024.

The Commonwealth Government's lawyers made no confidentiality claims over the redacted version of that document which was relied upon as evidence and referenced in the Royal Commission's Final Report. The Commonwealth Government's lawyers did request the Solicitors Assisting the Royal Commission to carefully consider use of the Report, including any publication, pending the Government's review.

Over the life of the Royal Commission its practice has been not to publicly release reports-to-government commissioned by government, unless they have been tabled by government and made public, including the Commission's own Interim Report, Lived Experience Report (Shining a Light) and its Final Report, all reports-to-government.

The Royal Commission inadvertently included the redacted version of the IGADF Review report in a large bundle of exhibits it prepared for publication on the Royal Commission's website prior to delivery of its Final Report. When this mistake was discovered, the Official Secretary to the Royal Commission took the decision to remove the Report from its website in order to fulfil the Commission's process on not publicising reports-to-government that had not been publicly released."