The Enduring Legacy of Harm from the HMAS Leeuwin

HMAS Leeuwin is a former Royal Australian Navy shore base in Freemantle, operating between 1960 and 1984 until it passed hands to the Australian Army as Leeuwin Barracks, and was eventually announced for sale by the Australian Government in 2015. During the period between 1960 to 1984 HMAS Leeuwin functioned as a training establishment for junior Navy recruits, aged between 15 and 16.

Events at the HMAS Leeuwin were substantively the subject of the both the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART) examined the proliferation of physical and sexual abuse of child recruits at HMAS Leeuwin from 1960 to 1984 and the response from the Commonwealth Department of Defence to the allegations. The experiences and extent of abuse were documented in Case Study 40 of the Royal Commission, and its findings can be found here. The DART findings can be found here.

The Royal Commission reported that “Leeuwin had been the scene for unorganised and repetitive acts of bullying, violence, degradation and petty crime during most of the years of its existence”. This abuse included the practice of “bastardisation”, where a junior recruit would be held down whilst boot polish, toothpaste or another substance was speared on their genitals or anal area. Reporting of the abuse was reprimanded, and the junior recruits that did report this abuse to staff were dishonourably discharged, or threatened with a dishonourable discharge, being told that the abuse was a “rite of passage”. Further, commissioners have insisted that senior staff members knew and tolerated such abuse as a product of the Leeuwin’s institutional environment that enabled the abuse to continuously occur. The Royal Commission arrived at a finding that Leeuwin’s system of management was ineffective in preventing and responding to child sexual abuse, ultimately providing that the Navy failed its’ duty of care to junior recruits.

The DART report looked further at the scope of abuse, especially at HMAs Leeuwin. Of the matters included within the report, some 10% identified HMAS Leeuwin as the location of the incident relevant to them, and a further one third of persons making a report outside of the inquiry’s reporting period who identified the location of their report identified the HMAS Leeuwin as that location. The report concluded that due to the nature of the abuse and injury to the survivors, it is “likely that other subjects of past abuse will continue to come forward when they feel able to do so, for many years into the future”[1].

As the survivors of abuse continue to come forward to share their experiences of maltreatment at the Leeuwin, it is a poignant time to consider the scale of damage that these injuries carry, made clear by how deep the wounds are decades after the fact.

Chamberlains Law Firm represents clients for historical sexual abuse claims against both institutions and individuals. The hope in bringing a claim for childhood historical abuse is to hold the individual or institution accountable and provide financial compensation to the survivor for the harm caused. Please get in touch with our experienced team in this area for a confidential no-obligation initial chat.

This article was written with the assistance of Isaac Simpson.

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