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Appendix E – 2011 ADFA Unacceptable Behaviour Survey Results

The following tables present survey results from the 2011 Unacceptable Behaviour Survey that are relevant to the Review. A total of 599 cadets completed the survey, however, the below figures do not always total 599 (or 100% for proportional items). This is due to incomplete responses, instances where respondents skipped questions, and rounding.

The tables and figures cited below are taken from DSPPR Report 5/2011 and supplementary data supplied to the Review, and use the baseline figures quoted by the DSPPR. Items which contained minimal and possibly identifying data are not included.

DSPPR Report 5/2011 works from an assumption that there are currently 972 cadets at ADFA, which differs from other figures provided to the Review and cited in Appendix A.

Table 1 – Response rates by year and gender

Table 1 indicates year and gender of respondents.

Year Total Male Cadets Male respondents (number) Male respondents (percent) Total Female Cadets Female respondents (number) Female respondents (percent)
First
272
155
57.0
75
55
73.3
Second
218
123
56.4
70
52
74.3
Third
219
151
68.9
54
37
68.5
Fourth
47
18
38.3
25
3
12.0

 

Table 2 – Response rates by Service

Table 2 indicates Service of respondents. It does not include information about the small number of foreign service cadets who took the survey.

Service Total Male Cadets Male respondents (number) Male respondents (percent) Total Female Cadets Female respondents (number) Female respondents (percent)
Navy
102
69
67.6
51
38
74.5
Army
379
212
55.9
84
60
71.4
Air Force
243
162
66.7
74
47
63.5

 

 

Table 3 – Experiences of gender and sex-related behaviours by gender

Table 3 shows the percentage of female and male cadets who reported experiencing each SEQ behaviour at least once during the previous 12 months. The behaviours are grouped according to the types of unacceptable behaviours.

SEQ Survey Item Female percent (at least once) Male percent (at least one)
Sexist Behaviours    
e. Treated you differently because of your gender (eg. Mistreated, slighted or offended you)?
34.0
5.9
i. Made offensive sexist remarks (eg. Suggesting people of your gender are not suited to the kind of work that you do)?
31.9
9.0
k. Put you down or was condescending to you because of your gender?
25.2
1.4
Crude/Offensive Behaviours    
a. Repeatedly told sexual stories or offensive jokes?
72.9
65.0
c. Made unwelcome attempts to draw you into a discussion of sexual matters (for example, attempts to discuss/comment on your sex life)?
37.6
23.5
d. Made crude and offensive sexual remarks either publicly (eg. In your workplace) or to you privately?
34.0
29.4
f. Made offensive remarks about your appearance, body or sexual activities?
22.2
14.6
h. Displayed, used or distributed sexist or suggestive materials (eg. Pictures, stories, pornography, email)?
13.9
19.9
b. Whistled, called or hooted at you in a sexual way?
40.3
15.0
l. Stared, leered or ogled at you in a way that made you feel uncomfortable
22.2
2.9
g. Made gestures or used body language of a sexual nature?
18.1
21.3
m. Exposed themselves physically (eg. ‘mooned’ you) in a way that embarrassed you or made you feel uncomfortable?
9.0
8.1
Unwanted Sexual Attention/Seduction    
r. Made unwanted attempts to stroke, fondle or kiss you?
6.3
4.5
n. Continued to ask you for dates, drinks, dinner etc., even though you have said ‘no’?
13.9
2.4
j. Made unwanted attempts to establish a romantic sexual relationship with you despite your efforts to discourage it?
19.4
4.5
q. Touched you in a way that made you feel uncomfortable?
6.9
3.6
Sexual Bribery/Threat (Quid Pro Quo)    
o. Made you feel you were being bribed with some sort of reward or special treatment to engage in sexual behaviour?
2.1
0.7
s. Treated you badly for refusing to have sex?
4.3
1.9
p. Made you feel threatened with some sort of retaliation for not being sexually cooperative (eg. By mentioning an assessment)?
2.1
1.2
t. Implied better treatment if you were sexually cooperative?
2.8
1.2
u. Made you afraid you would be treated poorly if you did not cooperate sexually?
2.8
0.5
Sexual Assault    
v. Made unwanted attempts to have sex with you that resulted in you pleading, crying or physically struggling?
2.1
0.2
w. Had sex with you without your consent or against your will?
2.1
0.2

 

Table 4 – General Harassment and Discrimination Experiences, relevant items with a statistically significant gender difference

Table 4 shows the percentage of female and male cadets who reported experiencing the general harassment and discrimination items quoted in the body of the Review report. These are the items that returned a statistically significant gender difference in response with relevance to the Review.

General Harassment and Discrimination Experiences Female percent (at least once) Male percent (at least one)
c. Spread malicious rumours or public statements of a derogatory nature about you or another person?
55.5
12.2
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of...Your medical status (eg. Being on a chit/restrictions)?
45.5
17.9
f. Excluded you from normal conversation or workplace activities and work-related social activities?
21.9
12.2
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of...An impairment, medical condition or disability?
11.7
5.6
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of...Your pregnancy or potential pregnancy?
3.4
n/a

 

 

Table 5 – Aggregated general harassment and discrimination experiences

Table 5 shows the aggregated results for general harassment and discrimination experiences, including the percentage of those who found each experienced behaviour to be ‘unacceptable.’

General Harassment and Discrimination Experiences Never (percent) At least once (percent) Unacceptable (percent)
a. Made insulting comments about your physical characteristics, abilities or mannerisms?
33.2
66.8
13.3
b. Made negative or unnecessary comments about your work or capacity for work?
54.3
45.7
16.8
c. Spread malicious rumours or public statements of a derogatory nature about you or another person?
57.6
42.4
51.6
d. Interfered with your workspace, work materials, equipment or property?
68.5
31.5
16.6
e. Deliberately failed to pass on important information?
81.4
18.6
35.5
f. Excluded you from normal conversation or workplace activities and work-related social activities?
85.5
14.5
19.8
g. Subjected you to offensive racist remarks?
87.9
12.1
20.8
h. Subjected you to persistent teasing?
81.6
18.4
18.3
i. Physically bullied, assaulted or threatened you with violence?
92.3
7.7
26.1
j. Displayed intimidating behaviours such as finger pointing, invasion of personal space, shoving, barring the way?
83.0
17.0
10.9
k. Forced or coerced you to participate in unofficial initiation ceremonies?
94.6
5.4
3.1
l. Abused their authority or issued inappropriate orders?
90.2
9.8
44.8
m. Applied favouritism in the allocation of work?
74.4
25.6
29.8
n. Ordered you to undertake their personal tasks?
95.3
4.7
17.9
o. Shouted at you or subjected you to spontaneous anger or rage?
63.7
36.3
18.2
p. Publicly expressed or displayed affection or intimacy in the workplace?
77.9
22.1
19.2
q. Overloaded you with work or required work to be done without sufficient time to do it?
66.4
33.6
12.6
r. Forced or coerced you to work excessive hours per week on a regular basis?
82.1
17.9
16.2
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of your skin colour?
95.0
5.0
17.2
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of your religion?
93.3
6.7
23.1
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of your age?
90.2
9.8
12.3
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of your political opinion?
92.5
7.5
16.3
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of an impairment, medical condition or disability?
92.9
7.1
29.3
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of your nationality or national ethnic extraction?
92.9
7.1
14.6
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of your marital status?
98.4
1.6
22.2
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of your pregnancy or potential pregnancy?
99.0
1.0
16.7
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of your family responsibilities?
98.6
1.4
37.5
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of your sexual orientation?
95.1
4.9
10.7
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of being a non/light drinker?
83.5
16.5
17.9
s.[...] Treated you differently, victimised you or harassed you because of your medical status (eg Being on a chit/restrictions)?
75.0
25.0
28.5

 

Table 6 – Opinions on Unacceptable Behaviour, items with a statistically significant gender difference

Table 6 shows the gender disaggregated percentage of cadets’ opinions on unacceptable behaviour where the results indicated a statistically significant gender difference.

Opinions on Unacceptable Behaviour Female percent (agree/to some extent) Male percent (agree/to some extent)
Women should not be restricted from any specialties from which they can qualify
66.7
46.8
Men have an advantage over women when it comes to having a successful military career
31.3
19.6
Men and women have equal opportunities for promotion in my Service
68.0
78.1
Work groups whose members are all the same sex generally work together more effectively
9.5
29.5
Extent subjected to unacceptable behaviour within the last twelve months
38.8 (at least to some extent)
23.0 (at least to some extent)

 

Table 7 – Opinions on unacceptable behaviour, percentage

Table 7 shows the full aggregated responses to the opinions on unacceptable behaviour. This table shows several instances of high neutral responses noted in the text, indicating a high level of ambiguity about some of these items. The percentages quoted may not tally to 100% due to rounding.

Opinions on Unacceptable Behaviour Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
People at ADFA who harass others usually get away with it
23.0
47.8
16.3
11.9
1.0
Unacceptable behaviour is not tolerated at ADFA
1.5
4.3
5.2
47.5
41.5
Actions are being taken at ADFA to prevent unacceptable behaviour
0.7
2.3
5.9
50.1
41.0
It wouldn’t be worth complaining about unacceptable behaviour here because nothing would be done about it
53.9
37.7
5.4
2.7
0.3
If you complained about unacceptable behaviour here you would labelled a trouble-maker
31.2
41.9
17.3
8.7
1.0
My DO has clearly indicated unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated here
1.5
2.0
4.5
34.8
57.2
My CO/OC has clearly indicated unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated here
1.5
0.8
4.5
32.0
61.1
Too much attention is being paid to unacceptable behaviour
5.4
24.0
36.5
20.3
13.9
Much of what is labelled unacceptable behaviour is actually a misunderstanding
4.0
34.8
38.6
23.2
9.4
Women should not be restricted from any specialities for which they can qualify
11.1
28.3
28.4
18.2
4.3
Men have an advantage over women when it comes to having a successful military career
20.7
28.3
28.4
18.2
4.3
Work groups whose members are all the same sex generally work together more effectively
15.1
28.8
31.8
16.4
8.0
Men and women have equal opportunities for promotion in my Service
1.5
5.4
17.4
45.8
29.9
  Don’t Know Not at All Small Extent Moderate Extent Large Extent
Extent subjected to unacceptable behaviour within the last twelve months
1.2
71.8
23.8
2.7
0.5
Extent peers are committed to preventing and stopping unacceptable behaviour
4.5
3.9
16.7
47.6
27.3
Extent DO is committed to preventing and stopping unacceptable behaviour
4.7
1.2
5.6
26.5
62.1
Extent CO/OC is committed to preventing and stopping unacceptable behaviour
4.9
0.8
3.4
23.4
67.5
Extent senior leadership at ADFA are committed to preventing and stopping unacceptable behaviour
2.9
0.8
1.2
18.5
76.6
Extent the policy of zero tolerance of unacceptable behaviour is practiced at ADFA
3.9
1.9
10.1
40.1
44.0
Extent likely to report unacceptable behaviour if it happens in the future
2.7
3.2
15.7
40.8
37.6
Extent of confidence that a complaint of unacceptable behaviour would be handled appropriately
2.0
2.7
5.9
34.1
55.3
Extent of confidence that a complaint about unacceptable behaviour would be satisfactorily resolved
3.0
2.5
9.0
42.9
42.6

 

Table 8 – Category of unwanted behaviour

Table 8 shows the way that cadets who reported experiencing an unacceptable behaviour categorised the most serious incident that they had experienced. Women were more likely to nominate ‘gender harassment’, and men were more likely to nominate ‘other’.

Category of Unacceptable Behaviour
Percent Gender
Percent of Total
Male Female
Sexual offence
3.5%
7.7%
5.3%
Sexual harassment
7.1%
10.8%
8.7%
Gender harassment
1.2%
24.6%
11.3%
Harassment
15.3%
4.6%
10.7%
Discrimination
12.9%
20.0%
16.0%
Abuse of power
11.8%
7.7%
10.0%
Inappropriate workplace relationship
11.8%
4.6%
8.7%
Workplace bullying
17.6%
12.3%
15.3%
Other
18.8%
7.7%
14.0%

 

Table 9 – Nature of unacceptable behaviour

Table 9 indicates the nature and impact of the behaviour experienced. Respondents were more likely to find the behaviours annoying than frightening, however the range of listed responses were recorded across the spectrum of severity.

To what extent was the behaviour... Not at all (percent) Slightly (percent) Moderately (percent) Very (percent) Extremely (percent)
Annoying
12.4
26.9
23.4
25.5
11.7
Offensive
30.1
27.3
28.7
9.1
4.9
Disturbing
53.5
25.7
12.5
3.5
4.9
Threatening
76.4
15.3
5.6
1.4
1.4
Embarrassing
49.0
22.1
14.5
9.7
4.8
Frightening
85.3
8.4
1.4
2.8
2.1

 

Table 10 – Frequency and length of unacceptable behaviour experienced

Table 10 indicates the frequency and length of the unacceptable behaviour experienced, disaggregated by gender.

Survey Item Response option
Percent Gender
Percent of Total
Male Female
How often did the behaviour occur Once
36.4%
41.0%
38.8%
  Once a month or less
28.6%
27.9%
28.1%
  Two to four times a month
22.1%
19.7%
20.9%
  Every few days
11.7%
9.8%
10.8%
  Every day
1.3%
1.6%
1.4%
  Total
100%
100%
100%
How long did the behaviour last [figures sic] Less than a week
54.1%
54.1%
54.4%
  One to four weeks
16.2%
27.9%
21.3%
  One to six month
14.9%
9.8%
12.5%
  More than six months
14.9%
8.2%
11.8%
  Total
100%
100%
100%

 

Table 11 – Those responsible for unacceptable behaviour experience

Table 11 indicates the demographics of those responsible for the unwanted behaviours, as reported by respondents. Those responsible were more likely to be part of a group, male, and the same age and rank as the respondent.

Survey Item Response option Percent Gender Percent of Total
Male Female
How many people responsible One person
46.8%
37.7%
43.2%
  More than one person
53.2%
63.2%
56.8%
  Total
100%
100%
100%
Gender of person(s) responsible Male(s)
55.8%
72.1%
63.3%
  Female(s)
9.1%
4.9%
7.2%
  Male(s) and Female(s)
35.1%
23.0%
29.5%
  Total
100%
100%
100%
Age of person(s) responsible Younger than you
11.7%
9.8%
10.8%
  About your age
41.6%
47.5%
43.9%
  Older than you
21.1%
19.7%
21.6%
  Combination of the above
24.7%
23.0%
23.7%
  Total
100%
100%
100%
Rank of person(s) responsible At a subordinate level/rank to you
2.4%
7.7%
4.8%
  At the same level/rank to you
69.4%
73.8%
73.8%
  At a senior level/rank to you
17.6%
15.4%
17.9%
  Unknown
4.7%
1.5%
3.4%
  Total
94.1%
98.4%
99.9%

 

Table 12 – Location and timing of unacceptable behaviour

Table 12 shows the location and timing of the unacceptable behaviour.

Response option
Percent Gender
Percent of Total
Male Female
It all occurred at work/in training
43.9%
46.6%
48.5%
Most of it occurred at work/in training
9.6%
19.0%
13.6%
Some of it occurred at work/in training
19.2%
20.7%
19.7%
None of it occurred at work/in training
21.9%
13.8%
18.2%
Total
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
It all occurred during duty hours
31.0%
27.6%
30.0%
Most of it occurred during duty hours
12.7%
10.3%
11.5%
Some of it occurred during duty hours
38.0%
41.4%
39.2%
None of it occurred during duty hours
18.3%
20.7%
19.2%
Total
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
In your unit (i.e. at ADFA)
58.8%
61.5%
48.1%
On exercises away from ADFA (TDY, attachments)
3.5%
4.6%
3.2%
In a training situation or at a training establishment
12.9%
13.8%
10.6%
At a military social function
4.7%
6.2%
4.2%
In your barracks living area
27.1%
32.3%
23.3%
Off base/ashore/civilian setting
10.6%
10.8%
8.5%
None of the above
4.7%
0.0%
2.1%

 

Table 13 – Consequences of unwanted behaviour

Table 13 shows the consequences of the unacceptable behaviour, disaggregated by gender.

Consequence Percent Gender Percent of Total
Male Female
Performance suffered
12.9%
6.2%
9.9%
Was embarrassed
20%
30.8%
24.5%
Became upset
10.6%
30.8%
19.2%
Working/training became unpleasant/hostile
9.4%
16.9%
12.6%
Feelings about being in the Defence Force were negatively affected
16.5%
15.4%
15.9%
Performance evaluation unfairly lowered
3.5%
3.1%
3.3%
Relationship with workmates deteriorated
16.5%
13.8%
15.2%
Became sick
3.5%
1.5%
2.6%