Now lawDefence & Security Introduced in the House of Representatives, 01 Apr 2026

Military justice now has new rules on sexual crimes

This law rewrites a big part of the Defence Force's own system for punishing wrongdoing. It changes how members are stood down, or taken off duty, sentenced, tried and recorded. It also lets veterans clear old convictions for gay sex.

Official name: Defence Force Discipline Amendment (RCDVS Implementation and Related Measures No. 1) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Defence Force members: They face new rules on being stood down, harassment, sentencing and a new middle level of discipline.
• Victims of sex or violent crimes by members: Military courts must weigh the harm done to them when setting a sentence.
• Members with a mental illness who are charged: Their case can be paused, dropped or sent to a new mental health tribunal.
• Veterans convicted for gay sex: They can ask to have those convictions taken off their records.
• Employers and agencies that run background checks: Military convictions will show up in national police checks.

Suicide inquiry made 122 recommendations

The Defence Force has its own law for discipline. It is the Defence Force Discipline Act 1982. It sets out military crimes and how members are tried and punished.

A Royal Commission is a big public investigation. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide gave its final report on 9 September 2024. It made 122 suggestions. The government agreed, fully or in general terms, to 104 of them.

This law puts several of those suggestions into action. It also makes changes that others asked for.

These include the federal complaints officer, called the Commonwealth Ombudsman. They also include the Judge Advocate General, the top military judge.

The law has 6 parts. The government wrote notes to explain it. It later added more notes. These answered questions from Parliament's human rights committee.

This article draws on those added notes. It also uses the Parliamentary Library's guide to the bill. The Library works for all MPs and takes no side.

Suspension, sentencing and records

Before this law, a member could only be stood down once they were charged. That was the case even if normal police were looking into them. So an accused person could keep working next to the person they were said to have hurt.

Now a member can be stood down while police look into them. That can be police in Australia or overseas. It covers any kind of crime, including sex crimes.

Sentencing changes too. For a serious violent or sex crime, a military court must think about the effect on the victim. If the offender and victim have different ranks, that makes the crime count as worse.

Say a sergeant attacks a private, the lowest rank. The gap in rank now pushes the sentence up. The government's notes say rank gaps can make crimes more serious in a ranked system like the military.

Military convictions will now go to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. That is the agency that runs national police checks. The Royal Commission said this was urgent.

A military court can order that a conviction not be passed on, if sharing it would be wrong.

The old crime title "Malingering" goes. That word had become an insult thrown at sick and hurt members. The crime of faking illness to get out of duty stays, under a plainer name.

Some crimes will now say whether cruel treatment involved violence. This helps normal police record those convictions the right way.

Courts martial changes

A court martial is a military court. It has a judge advocate, who is an officer trained in law. It also has a panel of members.

Until now, the panel set the punishment. Now the judge advocate alone sets the sentence, as a judge does in a normal court. Every sentence must come with written reasons.

The Royal Commission asked for this. It found courts martial did not have to explain their punishments.

An accused person or the lawyers bringing the case can now ask to change how a case is heard. For example, a case could go before the judge advocate alone, with no panel.

The Library's guide says people may have mixed views on this. A court martial panel brings real military know-how. Some experts say a panel is not the same as a jury.

Mental health in trials

The old law only dealt with "unsoundness of mind". That covered people who could not take part in a trial, or could not be blamed for what they did. It said nothing about less serious mental health problems.

Now an accused person with a mental illness can ask for a pause of up to 6 months. They need a doctor's report on how serious it is. They also need a plan for treatment.

A military court can drop a charge if the person has a mental illness and a trial would not help discipline. The notes say this is meant for small, purely military matters with no violence and no victim.

A new Defence Mental Health Tribunal will deal with some people. These are people found unable to take part in a trial, or not to blame because of mental illness. A tribunal is like a court but less formal.

Each panel will have a doctor, a lawyer and a Defence Force member.

It can order care, treatment or being held in a mental health ward or somewhere else. Orders can last up to 10 years for serious violent or sex crimes. For anything else, they can last up to 3 years. It must check each order at least every 6 months.

This tribunal starts on a date the government sets, or on 1 January 2028 at the latest. The extra time lets the government make deals with the states to use their mental health wards.

A new middle discipline level

Military discipline used to have two levels. Small slips were handled as minor breaches, with a fine at most. Serious matters were military crimes, which can lead to jail.

This law adds a middle level. The law calls these summary contraventions. They are not crimes.

They are decided on what is more likely than not. That is the test used when people sue each other.

They cover things like going missing without permission and not following orders. They also cover careless use of gear, theft and bullying online. A commanding officer, the officer in charge of a unit, hears them. So can another officer picked for it.

The worst punishment is a cut in rank. On active service, such as in a war zone, it can be being locked up for up to 42 days. Senior officers cannot be locked up. A person who is not in the military can only be fined up to $2,310.

A member can choose to send the matter to a full military court. A checking officer looks at every guilty finding before it takes effect.

This part starts on 1 January 2027, or later if needed. That matches the 2027 round of job moves and gives time for training.

Harassment and intimate images

Harassing a person becomes part of a military crime that already exists. There used to be a rule that it had to happen on Defence land, a ship, a plane or in public. That rule is gone. Bad behaviour now counts wherever it happens.

A member may be found guilty of a crime that involves a private sexual image of someone. A military court can order them to take it off the internet.

The Defence Minister can now give written orders and guides to the Director of Military Prosecutions. That is the top military lawyer who brings cases.

The Minister must first talk to that Director and the Judge Advocate General. The Minister must publish the orders and give them to Parliament.

Drug crime amounts are updated to match other federal laws. Evidence can be given by video. Discipline powers are put under the Chief of the Defence Force, the head of the whole Defence Force, who can hand them down to others.

Military judges get the same job safety as normal judges. The Director of Defence Counsel Services finds lawyers for accused members. That office gets a new name, Director of Defence Legal Assistance.

The added notes say arrest without a court's permission should be a last resort. Some people are held for 8 days before their charge is dealt with. Then written reports must be made. At 30 days, the matter goes to the Chief of the Defence Force.

Clearing old same-sex convictions

Until 1990, the Defence Force banned gay members. Some were convicted only because they had sex with someone of the same sex that both agreed to.

Now a person convicted for this before 1995 can ask the Chief of the Defence Force to have it wiped. A family member or someone else with a close interest can ask for them.

The conviction must be wiped if two things are true. There is no sign that one person did not agree to the sex. And it would not have been a crime between a man and a woman.

Once wiped, it comes off the person's service records. They do not have to mention it, even under oath in court. Other people who know about it must not share it without the person's OK.

If the request is refused, the person can ask for it to be looked at again inside Defence. They can then take that choice to a court.

Start date

Matthew Keogh is the Minister for Defence Personnel. He brought the bill to the House of Representatives on 1 April 2026. That is the lower house of Parliament. The House passed it in May 2026.

The Senate, the other house of Parliament, passed it on 17 September 2026. It made one change put forward by the Liberal and National parties. The House agreed to that change the same day.

The Governor-General is the King's representative. He signed it into law on 28 September 2026. It is now Act No. 93 of 2026.

Most of it started the next day. The new middle level of discipline starts on 1 January 2027 at the earliest. The Defence Mental Health Tribunal starts by 1 January 2028.

The Minister can also make short-term rules for cases caught between the old and new systems.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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