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Defense & Security · Asia

Hammond says Defence has completed its Afghanistan inquiry actions

Chief of the Defence Force Admiral Mark Hammond told a Senate estimates hearing that Defence had completed its actions related to an inquiry into leadership and command failures in the Special Air Service Regiment. The inquiry found that warning signs of declining standards reached higher headquarters without adequate intervention.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 2 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 1 of 2 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 6 entries
2 outletsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Too few ratedL 1 · C 1 · R 0
Updat3 graphic: Afghanistan
Updat3 graphic · Map data: Natural Earth Natural Earth (public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • On October 29, 2026, Chief of the Defence Force Admiral Mark Hammond told a Senate estimates hearing that Defence had completed its response to the inquiry (per The Sydney Morning Herald).
  • Hammond said all departmental actions relevant to the inquiry had been completed (per The Sydney Morning Herald).
  • The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force inquiry found serious leadership and command failures within the Special Air Service Regiment (per The Sydney Morning Herald).
  • The inquiry, completed in 2022, found that warning signs of declining standards reached higher headquarters without adequate intervention (per The Sydney Morning Herald).
  • The inquiry found an absence of effective leadership at various levels (per The Sydney Morning Herald).
  • The inquiry’s executive summary was uploaded to the IGADF website on Tuesday and was first published by The Australian (per The Sydney Morning Herald).
  • The 2020 Brereton inquiry uncovered credible evidence that Australian special forces unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners (per The Sydney Morning Herald).
  • The Saturday Paper headline says an inquiry exposed SAS leadership failures in Afghanistan (per thesaturdaypaper.com.au).
CASUALTIES
Reported and attributed figures — not independently verified by Updat3
The figure is reported as credible evidence uncovered by the inquiry; the article does not state an injury total.
Afghan civilians and prisonersAttributed claim
39 killed
Attributed to: The Sydney Morning Herald says the 2020 Brereton inquiry uncovered credible evidence that Australian special forces unlawfully killed them.

The brief

Chief of the Defence Force Admiral Mark Hammond told a Senate estimates hearing that Defence had completed its actions connected to an inquiry into leadership and command failures in the Special Air Service Regiment. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Hammond said all departmental actions relevant to the inquiry had been completed.

The hearing took place on October 29, 2026, according to the newspaper’s account. The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force inquiry found serious leadership and command failures within the regiment. Completed in 2022, it found that warnings about declining standards reached higher headquarters but did not prompt adequate intervention.

The inquiry also identified an absence of effective leadership at various levels, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The inquiry’s executive summary was uploaded to the IGADF website on Tuesday and was first published by The Australian, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The report’s findings concern leadership and command within the Special Air Service Regiment; Hammond’s statement addressed Defence’s completion of actions relevant to the inquiry. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Defence had twice refused to release the report under freedom of information laws. Labor and the Coalition voted to keep it secret.

The summary’s upload followed those refusals and votes, though the account does not detail the actions Defence completed or specify when each was taken. The inquiry sits alongside the earlier Brereton inquiry, which the Sydney Morning Herald said uncovered credible evidence that Australian special forces unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners.

That inquiry was conducted in 2020 and, according to the newspaper, largely confined responsibility to soldiers and junior commanders. The leadership inquiry discussed by Hammond was completed in 2022. The Saturday Paper’s headline also describes an inquiry as exposing SAS leadership failures in Afghanistan.

Hammond’s statement establishes that Defence says its relevant departmental actions are complete; the inquiry’s findings record failures in leadership and intervention, while the reported account does not identify the completed actions individually.

Why it matters

  • The inquiry documented leadership and command failures within the Special Air Service Regiment, including warning signs reaching higher headquarters without adequate intervention.
  • The inquiry’s findings concern command accountability at higher headquarters as well as leadership at various levels.
  • The earlier Brereton inquiry uncovered credible evidence of unlawful killings of 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners by Australian special forces, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

What to watch next

  • Whether Defence provides details of the departmental actions Hammond said were complete.
  • Whether the IGADF website’s executive summary remains available following its upload.
  • Whether Labor or the Coalition takes any further position on releasing the report.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
2 source articles · 2 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Too few rated· 1 Left · 1 Center
Where the outlets are based: Asia 100%
Outlet political mix
Too few rated
Left
Center
Right
1 outlet
1 outlet
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
2 unique outletsDominant coverage: Asia
Limited coverage
  • Coverage is currently limited to 2 outlets.
How we measure coverage

One source is from a wire service (AP, Reuters, AFP or Bloomberg), whose reporting other outlets often republish.

How outlets' accounts compare

Updat3 does not yet have enough full reports to compare how outlets framed this story.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. The Australian Defence Force’s Inspector-General was established in 1997 to provide independent oversight of military conduct and administration.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. Australia deployed special forces to Afghanistan.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. Brereton’s inquiry, commissioned in 2016, reported credible information that Australian special forces personnel had unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners in 23 incidents.
    Background · from our historical context
  4. The Brereton inquiry released its public report, finding credible information that Australian special forces unlawfully killed 39 people in Afghanistan.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. In 2021, the Australian government established the Office of the Special Investigator to investigate suspected war crimes and prepare cases for possible prosecution.
    Background · from our historical context
  6. In 2022, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) completed an inquiry into leadership and command within the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) in Afghanistan.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

In 2022, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) completed an inquiry into leadership and command within the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) in Afghanistan. Brereton’s inquiry, commissioned in 2016, reported credible information that Australian special forces personnel had unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners in 23 incidents.

The public report, released on November 19, 2020, described alleged conduct including “blooding”—the killing of a detainee to mark a junior soldier’s first kill—and the placement of weapons or other items to make victims appear to have been combatants.

Original sources

2 articles from 2 outlets

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