The Tasmanian senator said the report had temporarily appeared on the website of the royal commission into veterans’ suicide and been discovered by Greens senator David Shoebridge’s office.

“We downloaded it, we printed it, and then we rang the royal commission to ask when the report was uploaded to the website – and an hour later it was gone. This shows again the cover-up culture in Defence and the government. I want to thank Senator Shoebridge and his staff for their help on this,” she said.

Lambie said she had been told “it couldn’t possibly be made publicly available until Minister Marles had finished consulting with all stakeholders”.

The report notes that the current inspector-general, James Gaynor, had told the royal commission that “he had been absolutely appalled when, in mid-2023, he had been told that some families of service members that had died by suicide had not been informed of the inquiry outcomes”.

A spokeswoman for Marles said the minister was considering the report and the government had agreed to “implement the thrust of the recommendations of the royal commission, of which reform to the IGADF and military justice system forms a large part”. The royal commission has been contacted for comment about the accidental publication.

Many of the findings of the report on the inspector-general’s office report were similar to the royal commission’s recommendations.

If you are a current or former ADF member, or a relative, and need counselling or support, you can contact the Defence All-Hours Support Line on 1800 628 036 or Open Arms on 1800 011 046. Crisis support is also available from Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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