Commissioner leading defence force reform wants to 'hold people to account'

Meet the woman tasked with changing the culture of Australia's defence force The woman tasked with helping to steer systemic change in Australia's defence force says she is not looking to simply tick a box. For the first time since her appointment as the inaugural commissioner of the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission (DVSC) in May, Penny McKay has given her first interview. "Change might not happen overnight. But we will be here for the long haul," she told the ABC. The need for her role was born out of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which concluded self-harm among veterans and serving members constituted a national crisis, driven by systemic and cultural failures. And now, tucked away in a brick building, a stone's throw from Parliament House, she leads the organisation tasked with ensuring the response to the outcomes of that mammoth probe are more than just promises. A task Ms McKay said her and her team are "not naive to". "We want to be transparent about what we're doing: our job is shine a light on what's happening in defence and in DVA and other agencies that are connected to wellbeing," she said. "I want to hold people to account where required." In her first meeting with her hand-selected advisory group, she indicated the team's sights are trained on the government. Is change possible? The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide asked for an independent, statutory authority with enhanced powers, to improve suicide prevention and wellbeing outcomes for serving and ex-serving members. It essentially wanted and created a watchdog — someone to continue to promote change and accountability long after it tabled its final report. Within the umbrella of wellbeing and suicide prevention falls an entire cache of issues: military sexual violence, bullying, culture, backlogs with compensation and service claims, mental health and more. Before the Royal Commission even began, there were more than 50 inquiries and 750 recommendations made to Defence that had "little to no impact that they can see on the ground", according to Commissioner McKay. She said she understands there's skepticism in the community about whether cultural change is possible. "I'm keenly aware that the issues that we're dealing with are not new largely. In fact they're long-standing issues," she said. "Ideally I would like to promise that we can change the world, but I dare say that's a little bit naive. "What I want to say is that we will try our damnedest to do it. "The commission is looking for meaningful implementation of reform." The organisation is set to lead an independent military sexual violence inquiry later this year; one of the first issues it is set to tackle. Commissioner McKay wants the inquiry to be "future focused", which will come through hearing from those with firsthand knowledge. "I think we're going to hear some really traumatic disturbing experiences from people with lived experience of military sexual violence," Commissioner McKay said. "What I would say to anybody who has experienced military sexual violence is that it's unacceptable and we want to make recommendations that will make real change, so we want to hear from you." A date for the first hearings for the inquiry is yet to be said, and the government has not announced a deputy commissioner to lead it. Recommendation implementation survey The first meetings of the Commissioner's inaugural advisory group were held this month. A total of 16 people from various military and non-military backgrounds were selected to provide advice to the Commission; including a reverend, a psychiatrist, a lawyer and several serving members. The ABC was invited to film part of the first round table, where the question was asked just how many of the Royal Commission's 122 recommendations had been implemented. Veterans Affairs Minister, Matt Keogh, has previously said 32 recommendations had been implemented, with two-thirds expected to be implemented by the end of this year. "The Defence and Veterans' Service Commission (DVSC) Inquiry into the progress made by Australian Government Agencies to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide remains ongoing," a spokesperson for his office said in a statement. Commissioner McKay is leading an inquiry into the implementations of the recommendations, which is to be reported to the government in early February next year. She said she has not surveyed the implementation of all the recommendations yet, but "a number of the recommendations that have been reported as fully implemented, possibly won't be reported as fully implemented by the Commission". Commissioner unfazed by lack of military experience Commissioner McKay comes to the role with a wealth of experience in the legal field as a state, territory and commonwealth prosecutor, but she has never served or worked in defence. It's a point she said she is frequently asked about, but believes it's not a disadvantage. "My career from woe to go has had common threads of accountability, transparency and integrity," she said. "I'm really interested and I'm really drawn to roles that require people to be held accountable for their actions and if they promise to do something, they do it." She said she was married to a serviceman for 20 years served, her four children are defence kids and comes from a family with a proud military history. "I think it's also important that the person in this role comes with fresh eyes, comes with independent eyes, doesn't have conflicts of interest that might mar what we say," she said. It is enshrined in law that the Commissioner who leads the DVSC cannot have served within the past five years. When asked how she's going to grade her performance during and at the end of her five-year tenure, Commissioner McKay said it'll be on three things: trust, structural and systemic change and change on the ground. "If I can gain a level of trust in the veteran and defence community … if I can influence the departments and the governments to make those," she said. "I also then think it's then about whether people on the ground — the veterans, the defence members, and their families — are really seeing positive change." Commissioner McKay said she's aware there's a lot of scepticism about whether the Commission will be able to deliver change, and a lot of hope placed in her to do so. "I hope that that hope is not displaced. I will do everything that I can to make sure that it's not," she said. "We will be here for the long haul, the commission is not here a one and done. "We're going to be looking at issues over years and maintaining that focus on what has and what hasn't been done."