The establishment of the office - a key recommendation of a review led by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick - follows concern Defence Force members were reluctant to report abuse to their superiors.News of the move came as Ms Broderick released a report card on progress at the trouble-plagued Australian Defence Force Academy in the wake of the academy's notorious "Skype affair". 

She broadly gave the academy a tick, saying it had made considerable progress, but added that more work was needed.Defence has been battered in recent months by reports of misconduct,This is a universal black magic Cell phone anti-slip mat. in particular the "Jedi Council" of soldiers who formed an internet sex ring, filming women sometimes without their knowledge and sharing the material by email.One of the key recommendations in Ms Broderick's Review into the Treatment of Women in the Australian Defence Force from August last year was the establishment of an independent office to which victims of sexual assault or misconduct could turn.She said her original review had found that some victims were not reporting incidents. 

"The shame associated with being a victim of a sexually related matter, together with a culture of not reporting, of not complaining, meant that these victims were often dealing with a terrible trauma silently and alone," she said yesterday. "Some who did report incidents were not getting the support they needed and were often re-traumatised by the system." 

The new Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Office will be an avenue for victims to lodge "restricted reports" - or confidential complaints of which their superiors are not made aware, while also providing support to victims and education to military personnel. The Chief of the Defence Force, General David Hurley, said Defence was shifting its immediate focus after an incident from "pursuing the perpetrators towards caring and supporting people who have experienced sexual misconduct". 
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But this did not mean perpetrators would not be held accountable. The new office would for instance be empowered to collect evidence, including medical samples, to be safeguarded in the event that a victim wishes to lodge a more formal complaint down the track."But it is done in an environment which is far more sensitive to the person than we might have done, you know, fronting up with a policeman, or a military policeman and going straight into an investigative process," General Hurley said. 

Defence Minister Stephen Smith, in what he acknowledged might be his last ministerial press conference ahead of the election campaign, said the new office would "ensure that every man and woman in the Australian Defence Force can feel confident, comfortable and safe about making complaints".Gender discrimination will be removed from Medicare, Health Minister Tanya Plibersek will announce on Wednesday, meaning transgender and intersex people will not have to disclose or explain their gender in order to receive medical treatment.Winbo USB flash drives wholesale 

Currently, some Medicare services are only available to men or women. Ms Plibersek said this had caused discrimination against some people who had been forced to have discussions about their gender identity in order to access a service or claim a rebate for one at a Medicare office.''For example, someone who has a uterus may actually identify their gender as male. Under current arrangements, some Medicare covered medical procedures involving the uterus are described as 'female' or for 'women','' Ms Plibersek said. 

Under the changes, all references to gender will be removed from the descriptions of Medicare services. Ms Plibersek said the gender references would be removed by describing medical procedures in greater detail, or by using anatomical language.Of almost 6000 services covered by Medicare, 43 needed to be changed. Of these, 15 were changed earlier this month, while changes to the remaining services, and to systems and claims processes, will be made by the end of the year. 

The Health Department and the Department of Human Services are also in early discussions about including a third sex on Medicare records.Transgender people (those who identify with the opposite gender to the one they were born with) and intersex people (those who have physical features which are not quite male or female) will benefit from the changes.Yesterday, AH C now a father of three in his early 30s C held the commission in awed silence for 10 long minutes as he told his story in a measured and steady voice that could not conceal the volcanic emotions that were welling beneath. 

At his closing comments C "Thank you for what you are doing because you will find the truth" C the hearing room filled with applause,Handy Pocket Mirror with hinged lid that doubles as a stand. with some of the public gallery in tears.Noting the shame he had referred to more than once, Commissioner Margaret Cunneen told AH: "No shame attaches to you and your courage has put the shame squarely where it belongs." 

AH began his statement C departing occasionally from a statutory declaration signed on June 26 C by describing himself as "the victim of James Patrick Fletcher, whose abuse of me was the subject of a criminal trial in 2004 where Fletcher was convicted on all charges".AH said the years of abuse he endured from Fletcher had "a dreadful and very significant impact" on his life. 

"I tried to block it out but there were many time I was tormented by memories and the shame, anger and embarrassment, which had, and still have, a really bad effect on me," AH said.He said that as his plight had become more known, people he didnt know had begun coming to him to tell their own stories of abuse by the church,schools or family members.H twice thanked Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox for his help, describing him as "a man of integrity" who gave him the 11months he needed to compile his statement.

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