{"id":12015,"date":"2025-06-25T10:21:06","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T00:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kelsolawyers.com\/au\/?p=12015"},"modified":"2025-11-05T12:49:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T01:49:10","slug":"the-shocking-hazing-rituals-in-the-australian-armed-forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kelsolawyers.com\/au\/the-shocking-hazing-rituals-in-the-australian-armed-forces\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shocking Hazing Rituals In The Australian Armed Forces"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Hazing rituals or “bastardisation” have been a feature in many institutions for generations. This is the practice of initiating young recruits by established members. It used to be a standard experience in boys\u2019 high schools<\/a> (State and private) and in the workplace, such as banks, insurance companies, the trades, emergency services and, of course, the Army<\/a>, Navy<\/a> and Air Force<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For example, I remember my initiation at Meadowbank Boys\u2019 High School in 1969.<\/a> I was a twelve-year-old in my first year.<\/p>\n

There was the day the school bus pulled up to the school gates only to be boarded by a shouting, angry mob of eighteen-year-old students, some with beards, grabbing every first-year student\u2019s tie and ripping off the label. Then we were herded into the playground to be doused with white flour and sprayed with perfumed water.<\/p>\n

Each one of us was drenched with a garbage bin full of water. Some were singled out and led down to the toilet block to be shown the “Royal Flush,” that is, holding their heads down the toilet bowl and flushing.<\/p>\n

I was terrified, and I wasn\u2019t the only one.<\/p>\n

My early days were spent at the Rural Bank of NSW’s head office in Martin Place, Sydney. Recruits were sent around the building on pointless errands like being told to “turn the overdraft off” or asking a whole string of clerks in different departments for something that didn\u2019t exist, like a “verbal agreement form”.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t sound like much now, but when you\u2019re a nervous young office worker straight out of high school, it\u2019s humiliating to have a floor of sixty grown men and women laughing at you.<\/p>\n

Young women<\/a> sometimes broke down and headed for the bathroom in tears.<\/p>\n

Initiations of all kinds have been considered a part of growing up for a long time. The problems begin when it goes beyond light-hearted fun and games and develops into bullying, harassment, humiliation and physical and sexual assault.<\/p>\n

Many people reading this today will wonder what the fuss is about. Those people think the punishment was deserved by those unfit for service.<\/p>\n

Often, those people were among the abusers themselves. They now fear the culture change. They fear that their time is up and the law will be catching up with them soon. They have much to be worried about.<\/p>\n

Hazing was once considered a rite of passage into the military, and some cadets still suffer at the hands of other recruits<\/h2>\n

Hazing rituals have been common in the Army, Navy and Air Force for centuries. Former NSW Governor and Senior Naval Officer Peter Sinclair even told the Royal Commission that sailors have been participating in hazing rituals for centuries<\/a>, but conceded:<\/p>\n

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“Initiation itself is not a bad thing. If it is an initiation that involves bastardry and abuse and physical abuse and denigration, of course, that\u2019s not to be condoned.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He also recognised that hazing within the Navy, at least, is “out of control”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All hazing rituals involve humiliation, discomfort, inconvenience and embarrassment. Some involve pain, drenching, forced nudity, sexual touching and even penetration. By today\u2019s standards, many of these practices are criminal offences.<\/p>\n

Underage cadets have been subjected to:<\/p>\n