NZDF admits it fell short acting on complaints

The New Zealand Defence Force says it did not adequately deal with complaints by women who accused a doctor of indecently assaulting them during medical checks ahead of enlistment.

A Weekend Herald investigation yesterday revealed complaints were made by female recruits in 2012, 2013 and 2016, but women continued to be sent to the general practitioner.

The details were revealed in a military inquiry document and following an interview with former NZDF chief medical officer, Wing Commander Doctor Paul Nealis.

The incident was one of the reasons Nealis resigned and he believed the NZDF had attempted to sweep allegations “under the carpet”.

After the story’s publication, the NZDF said yesterday: “The NZDF did not adequately deal with the complexity of addressing complaints involving civilians, not yet in NZDF service, and a private civilian medical practice contracted to the NZDF.”

It said it had apologised to the victims. “Last year the NZDF apologised to the complainants for the way in which their complaints were handled and we repeat that apology now,” a spokesman said.

The first complaint was made by a Navy recruit in 2012, of inappropriate behaviour by a GP. In 2013, a complaint about the same GP was made by an Army recruit. The GP was briefly removed then returned to the list of approved doctors. A third complaint came in 2016. That complaint went to Nealis and led to the discovery of the earlier complaints, sparking an internal investigation.

Defence Force rules compelled the internal inquiry to stop when evidence was found that should be forwarded to other agencies — in this case, police or the NZ Medical Council. But recommendations for the case to be forwarded to the Medical Council were ignored, Nealis said.

“By not removing [the GP] from the register of medical professionals and not referring to the Medical Council, it was made to go away. I believe there was a concern around organisational reputation and the flak that would come with it,” he said.

The incidents resulted in calls for the NZDF to ensure Operation

Respect — aimed at stamping out indecent and sexual assault and harassment in the military — was embedded across the organisation.

As part of work on the programme, the NZDF spokesman said yesterday it had “become extremely conscious of the care needed when supporting complainants, including the potential risks around re-traumatising victims of harmful sexual behaviour”.

In 2018, the NZDF initiated a Court of Inquiry to investigate the way the complaints were handled.

The spokesman said it accepted several recommendations to improve handling of such complaints.

“This included placing the complainants at the centre of the process, an approach consistent with Operation Respect.”