Is drinking heavily a soldier’s duty in the Australian Army? If yesterday’s ruling by the High Court is anything to go by then yes – at least unofficially that
is.

The court found that
a soldier who had fallen from a second storey window after drinking
heavily at the Sergeants’ Mess was “injured in the line of duty” – and
as such was entitled to compensation. According to the judgment, retired
warrant officer Jure Jack Roncevich was fulfilling his “defence
service” when attending a dinner for a visiting senior officer in the
Sergeants’ Mess, where he consumed 6-8 beers. After returning to the barracks to
iron his uniform, Roncevich leant from the window to spit, causing him to topple and injure his knee.

Judges Michael McHugh, William Gummow, Ian Callinan and Dyson Heydon
overruled decisions by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the
Federal Court that Roncevich’s injury did not fall within the
requirements of his defence service. The judges found
that the previous definitions of “defence service” were too narrow, and
that much like other forms of employment, “there is also scope, and
need, for
individual
initiatives that go beyond the performance of what is ‘compulsory’,
‘obligatory’ or ‘required’.” And this could include the consumption of
alcohol. The court found that
“beer was sold cheaply in the Mess and drinking ‘that light stuff’ was
frowned on by colleagues.”

A former Army cadet tells Crikey that at the Defence Force Academy, the
drinking culture is a way of life. “There’s a massive drinking culture,” he says,
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Drinking is actively encouraged, and
abstaining is not an option. Drinking games are a long-standing
tradition, and
toasts are a frequent feature at dinners, where “port is passed around.”
At the Mess, alcohol is tax free, meaning stubbies of Crown Lager are
just $1, and port is even cheaper.

Our source tells us of one nasty incident after a night of heavy
drinking with the rugby club, when the team were under instruction to
“clear the bar.” After returning to base, an inebriated cadet jumped on
to the back of a taxi – the driver, unaware, sped off, and the youth
was dead within days. Apparently the rugby club got a big talking down
after the incident, but there was no formal punishment.

With the problems associated with the Army’s drinking culture becoming
increasingly public, it looks like they’ll have some serious PR work to do.