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A report has outlined abuse claims in the Australian armed forces - including 24 rape allegations which never went to trial.
The allegations suggest decades of long-standing abuse within the Australian Defence Force, which the country's defence minister Stephen Smith admitted would "shock" people.
The report was commissioned by the government last year following the so-called Skype scandal, when footage of a young male recruit having sex with an unwitting female classmate was streamed online to cadets in another room.
Some of the allegations had already been revealed through the media, but now the entire 1,500-page document has been released detailing 847 alleged incidents of sexual or other abuse dating back to the 1950s.
Many of the allegations concern children under the age of 16.
Until the 1960s, boys as young as 13 were recruited into the Navy and 15-year-olds were accepted into all three services up until the early 1980s. The minimum joining age is now 17.
"It does raise very serious allegations and does raise matters that are deeply sensitive and they will shock some people," Smith said of the report.
The report, compiled by a law firm, says many of the alleged victims never reported the abuse because they feared it would be their word against that of sometimes far higher ranking officers.
It added that some of the alleged abusers may still be working within the armed forces, quite possible in positions of superiority.
The report stated: "It is certain that many young females in the defence force have been subjected to serious sexual and physical assault and other serious abuse inflicted."
It also suggested paedophiles in the past joined the military to access young people in the same way they sought out positions in orphanages, schools and churches.
Documents previously released detailed "horrific" child sex assaults and brutal initiation ceremonies and painted a culture of cover-up, failure to punish perpetrators and hostility towards victims who complained.
The government says it is close to announcing its response to the allegations and may call for a royal commission to investigate.
"We are not too far away from making final conclusions in this area," Mr Smith said.
Defence Force chief General David Hurley has vowed the military will cooperate fully with the government and warned that any serving personnel guilty of abuse would be brought to justice.
