Australia — Chief of Navy calls fleet wide meeting to discuss HMAS Success Inquiry

Navy mem­bers from all over Aus­tralia have work­shopped today to dis­cuss the out­comes of the recent inquiry into unac­cept­able behav­iour on board HMAS Suc­cess.
“Lead­er­ship Day” gath­er­ings were coor­di­nat­ed by the com­mand­ing offi­cers of all Roy­al Aus­tralian Navy (RAN) ships and estab­lish­ments. Mem­bers were pro­vid­ed a 15 minute video in which Vice Admi­ral Russ Crane out­lined the find­ings and gave direc­tion on how Navy’s cul­ture must change to ensure such behav­iour is not repeat­ed.

“This report cuts to the heart of who we are as indi­vid­u­als as well as what we stand for as an organ­i­sa­tion,” Vice Admi­ral Crane said. “All of us must bear some of the respon­si­bil­i­ty to fix this.”

The mis­use and abuse of alco­hol is a com­mon ele­ment through­out the report. Vice Admi­ral Crane says Navy is not immune from the alco­hol prob­lems which con­front this nation espe­cial­ly when it comes to binge drink­ing but we must hold our­selves to high­er account.

“I am deeply com­mit­ted to the devel­op­ment of a new Aus­tralian Defence Force (ADF) Alco­hol Man­age­ment Strat­e­gy and you will see more work in this area very short­ly,” Vice Admi­ral Crane said. The Chief of Navy warned he was look­ing at breath test­ing 100 per­cent of Navy mem­bers as well as ban­ning alco­hol con­sump­tion in some ports if the sit­u­a­tion did not improve across the fleet.

Vice Admi­ral Crane also urged mem­bers to improve lead­er­ship through the New Gen­er­a­tion Navy cul­tur­al change pro­gram, which pro­motes a series of pos­i­tive behav­iours to under­pin Navy val­ues of hon­our, hon­esty, courage integri­ty and loyalty. 

The video was fol­lowed by a work­shop run by Com­mand­ing Offi­cers with a focus on lead­er­ship, cul­tur­al change and alco­hol management.

“Think of things you’ve seen that you know to be wrong but have not act­ed to cor­rect,” Vice Admi­ral Crane said. “Talk about the courage it’s going to require to step up and make a difference. “

Vice Admi­ral Crane’s Lead­er­ship Day video can be viewed at:
http://www.navy.gov.au/Leadership_Day

For more infor­ma­tion on Navy cul­tur­al change:
http://www.navy.gov.au/Navy_Values_and_Signature_Behaviours

Media con­tact:
Defence Media Oper­a­tions 02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664 

Press release
Min­is­te­r­i­al Sup­port and Pub­lic Affairs,
Depart­ment of Defence,
Can­ber­ra, Australia 

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