Australian Defence Chief apologises to abuse victims within ADF

CANBERRA, Nov.26 (Xinhua) -- Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith delivered a general apology to victims of sexual and other abuse within the Australia Defence Force (ADF) on Monday at a press conference.

"I will say sorry to those people who have been subject to inappropriate abuse over their time in the Australian Defence Force," Mr Smith said.

Facing a lengthy report into allegations of abuse, Stephen Smith has set up an independent taskforce to individually assess all claims and decide on compensation.

The taskforce has been asked to consider whether there should be a royal commission into certain cases raised in the report, authored by law firm DLA Piper.

The taskforce also will administer a compensation scheme that provides payments of up to 50,000 (almost 52,000 USD) for victims and will be headed by former West Australian Supreme Court judge Len Roberts-Smith.

The earliest case relates to the abuse of a 13-year-old boy in 1951, while the most recent relates to events in 2011.

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