Defence member stood down with pay after recording device found in women’s bathroom

A defence member has been stood down with pay after a video recording device was found inside the women’s bathroom in the HMAS Leeuwin.

Chief of Navy Matt Buckley said the member, identified as a person of interest last week, was receiving pay as no charges have been laid but assured the public that military police were prioritising the investigation.

“This is a completely unacceptable act,” he told reporters on Monday.

“We are getting after this with the highest priority. The military police are absolutely prioritising this investigation.”

The defence member is assisting investigations after the device was discovered in the women’s bathroom on October 11 while the ship was docked in Cairns.

The Australian Defence Force conducted an audit of all the bathrooms in the navy fleet last week after the issue was first raised publicly by veteran and independent senator Jacqui Lambie in Parliament.

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Lambie said she received a letter from a person who said the device had been found in the shower facilities.

“Even more disturbing are claims that footage from these cameras may have been uploaded online before the cameras were discovered,” she said on Wednesday.

Buckley said there is no evidence so far that the vision has been shared to others and no other devices were found during the audit.

In a video statement issued to defence members last week, Buckley said all potentially impacted women are receiving “our strongest support”.

“You have my assurance and commitment that we will tackle this act of sexual violence with all of our energy. Any perpetrator will be held to account,” he said.

“Further, you should all know that eradicating sexual violence in our workplace is fundamental to the fighting efficiency of our navy.”

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy, who appeared alongside Buckley at the press conference on Monday, said he was committed to changing the culture of the ADF.

“I want to again repeat our very strong view that the act of this was a reprehensible act that undermined the dignity and privacy of Royal Australian Navy personnel,” he said.

“It was completely unacceptable, and it has no place in the modern ADF. It has no place in any military, and it has no place in any Australian workplace.

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“Significant improvements to ADF culture have been made over the last few years, but it’s clear that we’ve got more to do.”

Lambie, however, accused ADF of failing to come close to cleaning up the culture.

“It has been a substantial problem for a very, very long time,” she told the ABC last week.

“The only way we’re going to be able to stop this is by taking it out of defence’s hands and having an independent body that actually deals with this.”