Reports identify need to improve police and defence response to harmful sexual behaviour among staff

Mon 24 Jul 2023

Two reports find that policies and practices addressing sexual harassment and sexual assault among police and defence staff need further work.

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Auditor-General review of NZDF Operation Respect

The Auditor-General has called for the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) "...to act with urgency to create a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all its personnel" based on the Office of the Auditor-General's (OAG) first review of Operation Respect.

To set a baseline for regular monitoring the OAG invited all NZDF personnel to complete a survey about unwanted sexual activity and inappropriate sexual behaviour. Unwanted sexual activity is the behaviours that fall within the category of sexual assault and inappropriate sexual behaviour covers a range of behaviours outside of sexual assault, including mistreatment based on gender or sexuality and sexually suggestive jokes or comments. Of the more than 6673 NZDF personnel who completed the survey, 1.3% had experienced unwanted sexual activity in the last 12 months with women (3.1%) more likely to experience this behaviour than men (0.6%). Junior uniformed women experienced high rates of inappropriate and harmful behaviour:

7.2% had experienced unwanted sexual activity (including sexual assault) in the previous 12 months
24.6% had experienced some form of inappropriate sexual behaviour
19% experienced bullying, harassment, or discrimination.

In response to these findings, Auditor-General John Ryan writes in the performance audit report that these are serious matters and:

"... NZDF needs to act with some urgency. There are no easy fixes and change will take both time and sustained effort. It requires a shared understanding of the problem and a clearly defined and shared view of the future that Operation Respect is trying to bring about."

The OAG found that the NZDF moved quickly to respond to the recommendations of the previous 2020 independent review of Operation Respect. However, the NZDF approach has not been driven by clearly stated and shared goals or underpinned by a clear and well-considered strategy.

The Auditor-General writes in the performance audit report that "It is essential that senior leaders play a strong and visible role in setting the vision and direction for Operation Respect and that more robust ways to hold all leaders accountable are established." He also notes that "Work is under way to create a new Operation Respect organisational strategy and plan. NZDF intends to strengthen governance and management structures to better enable the Operation Respect work to be driven and co-ordinated." The OAG made 11 recommendations for the NZDF.

The OAG published 2 reports from this first review:

New Zealand Defence Force: Resetting efforts to reduce harmful behaviour (2023) summarises findings of the performance audit which looked at how well the NZDF has reset Operation Respect and whether it has been designed and set up effectively to achieve its aims. This report also outlines the 11 recommendations for NZDF.

A safe and respectful New Zealand Defence Force: First monitoring report (2023) sets a baseline for measuring the impact of Operation Respect. This report includes more detailed findings from the survey of NZDF personnel and findings from interviews with 126 NZDF personnel.

Operation Respect is the NZDF culture change strategy developed in 2016 in response to a number of reviews that found harassment, bullying and discrimination including sexual harassment and sexual assault in the NZDF. In 2020 an independent review of Operation Respect found significant barriers to progress. The review made 44 recommendations including a recommendation for the OAG to independently monitor Operation Respect’s progress over the next 20 years. This is the OAG's first review of Operation Respect. For more information see our related news stories below.

Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report

The Independent Police Conduct Authority released a report finding that "Police failed adequately to respond to multiple allegations over a 15-year period that a Police Medical Officer sexually assaulted Police recruits." The IPCA completed an independent investigation after they received 2 complaints about how Police had handled concerns about a doctor contracted as a Police Medical Officer from 1999 to 2016. Of the 52 recruits the IPCA contacted, 14 males and females raised concerns. At least 5 recruits said they had raised concerns with people in Police following their medical exams, but nothing was done.

Chair of the Authority at the time of the investigation, Judge Colin Doherty said:

“Police not only failed to investigate these serious allegations when they were first raised, but they also failed to meet their obligation as an employer to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their staff. It is unacceptable that Police continued to contract the doctor for medicals up until 2016 without investigating or even questioning the alleged conduct, when several recruits had raised concerns about his behaviour over a period of about 15 years.”

The IPCA report, Police failed to respond to alleged sexual assaults against recruits (2023), outlines when Police became aware of the allegations and the Police response. The report states:

"36. We find it unacceptable that Police continued to contract Dr Z for medicals up until 2016, when several recruits had raised concerns about his behaviour over a period of about 15 years. The lack of a formal investigation into any of the concerns resulted in later recruits potentially being put at risk.

37. We acknowledge that none of the recruits made a formal complaint during this time. However, Police did not effectively respond to the recruits who did raise concerns and did not support them to formally complain.

38. It is understandable that recruits were reluctant to complain about Dr Z, given that Police had sent them to him, and they were seeking employment with Police. Some recruits thought Dr Z was only doing what was required during a Police medical, and it was not until they later became aware of other recruits’ concerns that they considered they should raise potential issues regarding their own medicals."

NZ Police Deputy Commissioner Tania Kura responded to the IPCA report saying:

"The shortcomings in the response are particularly saddening when we reflect on our values as an organisation. Respect is one of our key values and it drives a standard we set for ourselves to treat others as we would want to be treated.

"We want our staff to know their safety and wellness is of great importance, and Police has taken steps to ensure this does not happen again, and to ensure complaints are properly investigated, and managed."

Recently, media outlet Stuff reported that Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has said he has initiated a review of the Police Code of Conduct. The review is in response to a case where a Police officer was found to have breached the Police code of conduct for making inappropriate, sexually explicit comments to a colleague, but returned to work with the colleague. According to the Stuff article, the review would include consideration of whether offensive sexually explicit or suggestive language is grounds for serious misconduct.

Update: NZ Herald has shared further information about the review of the Police code of conduct requested by Commissioner Andrew Coster.

Update: Stuff reported an update on the review in their July 2024 article Police sexual harassment policies overhauled after Stuff investigation.

In 2017, NZ Police and the Office of the Auditor-General published their final reports on the review and monitoring following the 2004 Inquiry into the way Police dealt with allegations of sexual assault by police officers and their associates. At the time, both reports acknowledged that while progress had been made, further work was needed.

Navy recruits caught with obscene sex, torture and violence images - was military justice tough enough?, NZ Herald, 11.05.2024

Corrections calls in EY to review sexual harassment processes, Stuff, 07.04.024

‘He just played God’: The police medical officer whose examinations torment recruits 20 yrs on, NZ Herald, 17.02.2024

Off-duty police recruit quits amid investigation into indecently assaulting fellow recruits, NZ Herald, 15.01.2024

Top cop remains coy over review into workplace sexual harassment, Stuff, 27.12.2023

Defence Force reinforces sexual assault team after ‘serious’ staff audit, Newsroom, 11.12.2023

Strip club visit, sexual assault complaints exposed in army inquiry, NZ Herald, 19.11.2023

Ex cop's social media pages an ongoing embarrassment for police, One News, 09.11.2023

‘Male soldiers can’t help themselves’ is among many rape myths that need debunking, The Conversation, 08.09.2023

What is institutional misogyny in policing? Our research shows what it looks like – and why it matters [UK], The Conversation, 05.09.2023

Police sergeant who made 'sexually explicit comments' redeployed after Stuff story, Stuff, 17.08.2023

NZDF apologises for handling of assault complaint, Otago Daily Times, 13.08.2023