Defence Legislation Amendment (RCDVS Implementation and Related Measures No. 2) Bill 2026

Senator McKIM (Tasmania—Australian Greens Whip) (12:44): The Defence Legislation Amendment (RCDVS Implementation and Related Measures No. 2) Bill 2026 is an important piece of legislation, and the Australian Greens are very happy that it will pass through this place today. I want to speak about one element of historic ADF policy that has caused significant harm and mental distress to a number of ADF serving personnel and veterans, and that is the historical discrimination against LGBTQIA+ Australians who served in our defence forces.

I acknowledge that historical discrimination against LGBTQIA+ Australians was not limited to the ADF. It was, tragically, fairly broad in its scope in regard to both state and private organisations. However, LGBTQIA+ personnel within the ADF and LGBTQIA+ veterans from the ADF—it has to be acknowledged—did suffer significant distress and did suffer significant harm as a result of discriminatory policy settings within the ADF, and those harms were suffered both during service and in the rest of their post-service lives as veterans.

I understand that the government will soon announce that it intends to issue a formal apology acknowledging any harm experienced by LGBTQIA+ personnel and veterans as a result of historical discriminatory policies within the ADF. I want to say that is a very positive development that has and will have the full support of the Australian Greens. What is critical here is that any apology that might be announced and given by the government is delivered with appropriate formality and at the appropriate levels in the appropriate forum.

It is the view of the Australian Greens that this apology should be given by the Prime Minister in the House of Representatives. We've seen apologies given by the Prime Minister in this parliament in previous cases where significant historical wrongs were attempted to be set right, and an apology by the Prime Minister in the parliament would provide for a moment of national reckoning and an opportunity for those who were harmed by discriminatory policies to understand that the apology is sincere and the apology is intended to be meaningful.

We need to heal the wounds that deep discrimination has caused, and such an apology in such a way would be a step towards healing those wounds. There is another step the government should take as well as apologising, and that is the government should provide financial redress for those who were discriminated against and harmed as a result of just being who they were and the impact that that had because of the discriminatory policies of the ADF.

I want to place very clearly on the record that I am aware of cases where service personnel suffered loss of employment, loss of income, loss of housing and in many cases severe impacts on their mental health. This was personal suffering, sometimes grievous personal suffering, but it also was suffering inflicted economically and more broadly socially. To be clear, people were dishonourably discharged from the ADF as a result of being queer.

Redress would not compensate for harms caused, but it would go some way to acknowledge the injustices that occurred. Redress for LGBTQ+ service personnel who suffered harms and were discriminated against because of who they were is allowed, permitted and available in places like Canada and the UK. Australia should follow the lead of those two allies of our country and provide for a redress scheme here in Australia.

Last year my home state of Tasmania became the first state to allow financial redress for those charged and convicted under the state's former laws against homosexuality and against crossdressing. The circumstances are not identical, but the harms here are comparable, and the response should be comparable as well. The Greens recommend a Senate inquiry to determine exactly how a redress scheme should be implemented, what the redress amounts should be and how redress amounts should be distributed.

Apologies do matter. They have meaning, and they can be incredibly significant for people who suffered as a result of historical discrimination and who were harmed as a result of being punished simply for who they were as people. That is the situation in the ADF.

People were harmed and punished just for being who they were. Apologies do matter, and that's why we believe that an apology in this case, if that is what the government intends to do, should be given by the Prime Minister of the day in this parliament. Everyone that was harmed in such a way because of these discriminatory historical policy settings should be invited and facilitated to come to this place and to hear the apology in person or to participate in other ways around that apology.

Apologies do matter, but so does the acknowledgement of harm through the provision of redress. We look forward to the government making this announcement. It does have the full support of the Australian Greens, and I offer in good faith the suggestions that I've made today on behalf of the Australian Greens and indicate that we are open to working constructively with this government to, firstly, make sure the apology is given appropriately, by the right person and to the right people and, secondly, determine the way that a redress scheme should operate.