A Royal commission is into abuse within the Australian Navy has heard graphic claims, that cadets were alleged to abuse including assaulting each other during training.
Apart from being ‘forced to assault each other, the practices included like smearing shoe polish on private parts known as blackballing, thrusting their heads into toilets and flushing then and named it as Royal Flush.’
Such treatments, they recall, were described as a “rite of passage” and meant to “make a man” out of them.
A former navy member said he was “snatched” in the middle of the night and taken to a sports oval where he was abused.
“On multiple occasions I was snatched in the middle of a night and dragged to a sports oval,” he told media.
The Royal Commission was launched in 2012 following over 2,4000 complaints. Since then, it has heard from over 111 people who claimed to have experienced physical and mental abuse at the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
