top of page
Legal Angle
Withholding Truth
International Law Violations
1. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
Signed by Australia: 22 August 1990
Ratified: 17 December 1990
Article 3 – The best interests of the child must be a primary consideration in all actions concerning children.
Breach: By ignoring second-generation impacts of Agent Orange, Australia failed to consider the lifelong health of children affected by its war policies.
Article 24 – Children have the right to the highest attainable standard of health and access to healthcare services.
Breach: No screening, no studies, no care pathways have been created for veterans’ children, despite known risks. This is a direct breach of Australia’s duty to provide preventive health care.
Article 12 – Children have the right to express their views and have those views considered.
Breach: Children affected by Agent Orange exposure have been ignored, disbelieved, or medically dismissed without access to hearings, complaints processes, or representation.
2. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
Signed: 30 March 2007
Ratified: 17 July 2008
Article 25 – Equal access to healthcare without discrimination.
Breach: Veterans’ children with complex, TCDD-linked health conditions have faced systemic denial of care, diagnosis, or recognition.
Article 31 – Collection of data and research to enable effective policy.
Breach: No data is collected on second-generation harm. The absence of a national registry or research program violates Australia’s obligation to gather disability-related information.
Article 7 – Protection of children with disabilities.
Breach: Disabled children of veterans have received no targeted protection or support, and their specific risks have been ignored in health and education planning.
3. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
Signed: 18 December 1972
Ratified: 13 August 1980
Article 6 – Every human being has the inherent right to life.
Breach: Australia’s refusal to act on known, foreseeable health risks from inherited TCDD exposure puts lives at risk, particularly for those born with organ malformations, neurological disorders, or cancer risks
Article 7 – No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
Breach: Medical neglect and institutional denial in the face of clear suffering constitutes cruel and degrading treatment, especially when combined with state silence.
4. Convention Against Torture (CAT)
Signed: 10 December 1985
Ratified: 8 August 1989
Includes acts of omission where severe suffering results from official neglect.
Breach: Withholding critical medical information, denying conditions known to cause suffering, and refusing diagnostic or health access pathways for children with TCDD-related illness may constitute inhuman treatment by omission.
Responsible Departments
Australian Defence Force / Department of Defence
Did not disclose known or suspected reproductive and genetic risks from dioxin exposure during or after service.
Failed to track or warn affected families.
Breached its duty of care to inform service members about risks to future children.
Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
Ignored warnings and recommendations from the Evatt Royal Commission (1985).
Did not initiate research, tracking, or screening of veterans’ children.
Cherry-picked conditions for recognition, ignoring international consensus on second-generation harm.
Withheld assistance despite high rates of unexplained disability among children of Vietnam veterans.
Department of Health
No monitoring of birth defects, neurological, or autoimmune clusters among veterans’ children.
Failed to develop national policy, screening tools, or referral pathways for those at risk of inherited toxic damage.
Ignored World Health Organization (WHO) and IARC guidance on dioxin as a human carcinogen and developmental toxin.
Repatriation Medical Authority (RMA)
Refused to examine second-generation patterns in its Statements of Principles.
Dismissed international studies without any Australian-based counter-research.
Enabled a medical framework where known patterns of inherited injury are erased by policy design.
Domestic Parallels
Robodebt Scheme
The government knew its system was unlawful but maintained it, targeting vulnerable people and denying responsibility until public exposure.
Similar gaslighting occurred: shifting blame, suppressing internal advice, and denying harm until legal action forced accountability.
Forced Adoptions
Medical and legal records were withheld from parents and children.
For decades, authorities refused to admit that harm occurred, retraumatising victims through denial and silence.
Stolen Generations / Indigenous Health Neglect
Health and trauma data were ignored or manipulated.
Intergenerational trauma was denied by governments for decades.
Families experienced the same invalidation, medical gaslighting, and abandonment as c
Human Rights Violations
Article 3 – Best interests of the child
Breach: Burdening affected children and families with complex legal and scientific hurdles shows the government did not act in their best interests.
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
Signed: 30 March 2007
Ratified: 17 July 2008
Article 4 – General obligations to ensure rights
Breach: Australia has failed to take proactive measures to investigate and acknowledge second-generation harm, forcing individuals with disabilities to fight for recognition on their own.
Article 5 – Equality and non-discrimination
Breach: By denying services and recognition to veterans’ children while offering full coverage for service-related injuries to veterans themselves, Australia has created a discriminatory gap in protection.
Article 8 – Awareness and combatting stereotypes
Breach: The state continues to imply second-generation sufferers are exaggerating or fabricating harm, reinforcing stigma and disbelief around their conditions.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
Signed: 18 December 1972
Ratified: 13 August 1980
Article 26 – Equality before the law and protection against discrimination
Breach: Australia has created a legal and administrative environment in which children of veterans are denied equal access to evidence, legal recourse, and health support.
Convention Against Torture (CAT)
Signed: 10 December 1985
Ratified: 8 August 1989
Breach: When the state knows that suffering exists and shifts the burden of proof onto the victim while withholding information or denying institutional responsibility, it engages in a pattern of institutional gaslighting that may amount to cruel or inhuman treatment.
Responsible Departments
Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
Provides no presumptive pathway for second-generation conditions linked to Agent Orange exposure.
Places the full burden of evidence on individuals—even though those individuals were never informed of the exposure risk and lack access to records.
Refuses to aggregate similar case studies or support expert reviews of international data.
Treats veteran families as individual anecdotes rather than part of a known public health concern.
Repatriation Medical Authority (RMA)
Requires conditions to be linked directly to a veteran’s service without accommodating the reality of inherited harm.
Rejects second-generation submissions for lacking “proof,” while refusing to investigate or commission research that could provide that proof.
Effectively guarantees no policy change by creating a closed loop of denial: “no evidence” because “no studies,” and “no studies” because “no evidence.”
Department of Health
Offers no diagnostic or investigative support for families seeking to understand complex inherited conditions.
Provides no data matching, cluster tracking, or health system integration to identify shared causes among veterans’ children.
Tells individual parents and patients their symptoms are “rare,” “coincidental,” or unrelated—blocking access to proper diagnosis and early intervention.
Domestic Parallels
Robodebt Scheme
The state demanded individuals prove they didn’t owe debts, despite holding the burden of proof.
This reversal of responsibility left vulnerable people to battle a system designed to disbelieve them—paralleling how veterans’ children must prove inherited damage without support or access to records.
National Redress Scheme (Institutional Child Abuse)
Victims were required to relive trauma and collect impossible evidence from decades ago, while institutions withheld data or refused cooperation.
The system operated on disbelief, silence, and administrative obstacles, just like the handling of Agent Orange second-generation claims.
NDIS Early Denials and Disability Assessments
Applicants with rare, complex, or misunderstood conditions were repeatedly denied access based on lack of diagnostic clarity, even when their needs were obvious.
The system rewarded conditions that were easy to label, while punishing those with overlapping, environmental, or developmental origins.
Fragmenting the Narrative
International Law Violations
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
Signed: 22 August 1990
Ratified: 17 December 1990
Article 24 – Right to the highest attainable standard of health
Breach: By splitting responsibility across departments without coordination, Australia has failed to ensure children born with TCDD-related harm have access to effective, integrated healthcare.
Article 3 – Best interests of the child
Breach: Siloed systems mean no department takes responsibility for identifying or supporting affected children. Fragmentation delays care, denies recognition, and increases distress—none of which serves the child’s best interests.
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
Signed: 30 March 2007
Ratified: 17 July 2008
Article 25 – Access to healthcare without discrimination
Breach: Lack of integrated support leaves disabled children of veterans in limbo. They are often passed between departments, with no clear pathway to care or recognition of inherited disability.
Article 26 – Habilitation and rehabilitation
Breach: Australia has not provided early support, therapy, or rehabilitation for children born with complex, multi-system disabilities caused by inherited toxic exposure.
Article 31 – Data collection and policy development
Breach: Fragmentation prevents proper national data collection. Without a coordinated response, health trends are ignored, and no meaningful policies are developed to address second-generation harm.
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
Signed: 18 December 1972
Ratified: 10 December 1975
Article 12 – Right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
Breach: A disjointed system that fails to track, acknowledge, or respond to inherited harms is a failure to uphold the right to health. Long-term impacts go unmanaged, undiagnosed, and untreated.
Responsible Departments
Australian Defence Force / Department of Defence
Discharges responsibility for service-related exposures at the point of separation.
Does not monitor veterans’ reproductive outcomes or provide exposure data for medical use.
Disconnects entirely from family outcomes, despite known links between Agent Orange exposure and birth defects.
Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
Does not accept responsibility for the children of veterans.
Provides no referral pathways, no intergenerational follow-up, and no support services beyond the veteran.
Pushes health and disability concerns to Centrelink, NDIS, or state health systems, who in turn have no knowledge of service-related toxic exposure.
Department of Health
Does not link toxic exposure histories to developmental or congenital diagnoses.
Provides no data-sharing mechanism with DVA or Defence.
Treats cases as isolated and rare, despite global research identifying consistent patterns among children of Vietnam veterans.
Repatriation Medical Authority (RMA)
Focuses exclusively on the veteran.
Does not explore or review patterns among veterans’ children, citing jurisdiction limits—fragmenting scientific responsibility and avoiding intergenerational health analysis.
NDIS / State Disability Services
Often unaware of toxic or military-related causes of disability.
Lacks specialist pathways to assess or support children with complex, inherited conditions.
Parents are forced to self-navigate, explain exposure histories, and provide international research to access care.
Domestic Parallels
Institutional Response to PFAS Contamination
ADF and state agencies passed responsibility back and forth, leaving affected communities without medical monitoring or remediation.
Similar to Agent Orange, affected families faced disbelief, denial of linkage, and confusion over which agency should act.
NDIS Access Issues
Applicants with rare or multi-system disabilities are regularly denied access due to lack of diagnostic clarity or systemic understanding.
No integrated pathways for toxicant-related disability—leaving parents to fight across disconnected systems.
Asbestos Exposure Legacy
Early victims were dismissed or told their health issues were unrelated to past exposure.
Compensation and health tracking only came decades later, after significant harm. The same delay pattern is being repeated for TCDD-exposed children.
International Law Violations
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
Signed: 22 August 1990
Ratified: 17 December 1990
Article 12 – Respect for the views of the child
Breach: Australia has ignored or dismissed the testimonies of affected children and their families—often portraying their suffering as anecdotal, unscientific, or emotionally driven.
Article 23 – Rights of children with disabilities
Breach: Failing to acknowledge the origins of their disabilities disrespects the child’s experience and results in discriminatory access to services, supports, and justice.
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
Signed: 30 March 2007
Ratified: 17 July 2008
Article 8 – Awareness-raising and respect for dignity
Breach: Australia’s failure to validate the lived experiences of those affected by intergenerational toxic exposure perpetuates stigma, disbelief, and isolation.
Article 16 – Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse
Breach: Institutional gaslighting and systemic disbelief have re-traumatised families—especially when medical professionals, support services, or agencies deny their reality, leading to misdiagnosis, neglect, and systemic harm.
Article 19 – Living independently and being included in the community
Breach: Affected individuals are often dismissed, undermined, or excluded from policy discussions. This erases their contribution and blocks meaningful participation in advocacy or reform.
ICCPR – International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Signed: 18 December 1972
Ratified: 13 August 1980
Article 17 – Protection from arbitrary interference with privacy, family, or reputation
Breach: Government dismissal of lived experience undermines the dignity and credibility of those who speak out—fostering stigma and isolation.
Article 19 – Right to freedom of expression
Breach: Individuals reporting lived harms have been treated as unreliable, overly emotional, or conspiratorial, effectively silencing dissent and discouraging truth-telling.
Responsible Departments
Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
Treats intergenerational harm as unproven, anecdotal, and outside their remit.
Ignores or discredits consistent reports from families about rare conditions, birth defects, or inherited disabilities.
Offers no platform or process for families to submit their lived experience as part of a broader review or inquiry.
Repatriation Medical Authority (RMA)
Requires scientific evidence before reviewing lived patterns—refusing to explore family submissions or track common conditions across veteran children.
Treats testimony and international data as unverified unless it originates in Australia.
Department of Health
Views lived experience without biomedical confirmation as subjective and invalid.
Denies linkage to inherited toxic exposure unless formally documented, ignoring international precedent.
Offers no trauma-informed response to families who have been dismissed or retraumatised.
Australian Human Rights Commission / Disability Royal Commission (past)
Have not adequately explored second-generation harm as a rights-based issue.
Denied platform to those seeking justice based on systemic disbelief and intergenerational harm, perpetuating invisibility.
Domestic Parallels
Robodebt
Citizens’ lived experiences were dismissed as misunderstandings or exaggerations.
Internal reviews and whistleblower reports were ignored until public pressure forced accountability.
Individuals were gaslit by letters and calls asserting debts that did not exist—mirroring how families are told their experiences are not valid without hard data.
First Nations Health Testimonies
Long-standing patterns of intergenerational trauma and harm have often been dismissed by mainstream institutions.
This echoes the experience of toxic exposure victims, whose testimony is undervalued unless backed by Western scientific evidence.
Forced Adoptions Inquiry / National Apology
Parents were told they were “overreacting” or misremembering events—until systemic patterns were finally acknowledged.
The dismissal of lived experience delayed justice and compounded trauma.
Siloed and Inaccessible Systems
International Law Violations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
Signed: 30 March 2007
Ratified: 17 July 2008
Article 9 – Accessibility
Breach: Systems for accessing health care, records, or support are fragmented across departments, none of which accept responsibility for second-generation harm. This creates administrative barriers for people with disabilities inherited through exposure.
Article 19 – Living independently and being included in the community
Breach: Siloed systems isolate affected individuals from coordinated care and inclusive supports, reinforcing exclusion and reducing autonomy.
Article 26 – Habilitation and rehabilitation
Breach: There are no integrated services or pathways for children with complex, intergenerational harm—limiting access to effective lifelong care and support.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
Signed: 22 August 1990
Ratified: 17 December 1990
Article 24 – Right to health and health services
Breach: Disconnected government services mean children born with Agent Orange-related disabilities are bounced between departments without ever receiving proper support.
Article 23 – Rights of children with disabilities
Breach: A lack of interdepartmental coordination means many affected children are never recognised as having inherited disabilities, or are denied eligibility for supports.
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
Signed: 18 December 1972
Ratified: 10 December 1975
Article 2 – Progressive realisation of rights
Breach: The government’s failure to create integrated systems for second-generation harm shows a lack of commitment to progressively achieving rights for all.
Responsible Departments
Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
Refuses responsibility for children of veterans.
No referral mechanisms to health, disability, or family support services for affected children.
No intergenerational monitoring system in place despite known risks.
Department of Health
Does not coordinate with Defence or DVA to monitor intergenerational harm.
Families are often sent in circles between GPs, specialists, NDIS, and advocacy services—none of which are briefed on TCDD impacts.
Medical systems do not screen for or record parental military exposure as part of patient history.
Department of Defence / ADF
No integrated reproductive health policies despite known chemical exposures.
Health surveillance ends at discharge, with no pathway for affected offspring.
Exposure records are not shared with civilian health systems or affected families.
NDIS and Disability Services
Conditions inherited from toxic exposure are not recognised as a category of disability.
Families are forced to prove causation individually—despite international precedent and population-level risk.
Domestic Parallels
Robodebt
Victims were shuffled between Centrelink, complaints departments, and legal services with no clear resolution point.
Similarly, veterans’ children are bounced between disconnected systems—none of which are designed to respond to intergenerational harm.
Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Gaps
Veterans and families fall through cracks due to poor data sharing, siloed services, and poor transition coordination.
This has led to tragic outcomes, mirroring the experience of those seeking care for inherited, complex conditions.
Stolen Generations / Family Separation Systems
Survivors were left without access to coordinated care, records, or pathways to justice—each department denying responsibility.
This systemic fragmentation is being repeated with children of exposed veterans.
International Law Violations
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
Signed: 22 August 1990
Ratified: 17 December 1990
Article 17 – Right to access information important to health and well-being
Breach: Families and children affected by Agent Orange (TCDD) are denied access to critical health, exposure, and service-related data. This prevents informed healthcare decisions and early intervention.
Article 24 – Right to health
Breach: Withholding exposure data and refusing to link service histories with family outcomes obstructs the child’s right to diagnosis, care, and support.
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
Signed: 30 March 2007
Ratified: 17 July 2008
Article 21 – Access to information
Breach: Affected individuals are denied transparent access to medical histories, exposure records, and intergenerational risk data—limiting their ability to self-advocate or seek appropriate support.
Article 31 – Statistics and data collection
Breach: The government fails to collect, analyse, or release data related to second-generation harm. This blocks recognition, suppresses patterns, and stifles reform.
Article 22 – Respect for privacy
Breach: Veterans and families have no control over their service-related health data. Key information remains buried in internal Defence or DVA systems, never shared with families or treating clinicians.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
Signed: 18 December 1972
Ratified: 13 August 1980
Article 19 – Freedom of expression and access to information
Breach: Government secrecy around exposure, risks, and intergenerational health outcomes obstructs public discourse and prevents informed participation by those affected.
Responsible Departments
Australian Defence Force / Department of Defence
Refuses to release full service and exposure histories to families, even when medically relevant.
Does not maintain a reproductive health register or long-term monitoring of veterans’ children.
Fails to warn veterans of potential risks to future children, despite global precedent for such education.
Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA)
Holds exposure data, but does not share it with affected family members or with healthcare providers.
Refuses to acknowledge inherited harm, so no health warnings or information is ever provided to families.
Blocks access to relevant data under the justification that children fall outside DVA’s remit.
Department of Health
Fails to conduct public awareness campaigns or medical education regarding second-generation impacts.
No clear diagnostic guidance exists for clinicians treating patients with likely inherited TCDD damage.
Research on second-generation harm is underfunded or deprioritised.
Archives / Freedom of Information (FOI) mechanisms
Key documents related to service exposure, chemical use, and reproductive outcomes are heavily redacted or denied.
Families report long delays, denials, or excessive fees for accessing basic health-relevant data.
Domestic Parallels
Robodebt
The government withheld key legal advice showing the scheme was unlawful for years.
Similarly, agencies today suppress or ignore international research and internal data that would support families affected by Agent Orange.
Institutional Child Abuse Inquiries
Survivors were denied access to records, faced gaslighting, and only received apologies decades later.
This same pattern of information control and harm denial is playing out for veterans’ children.
PFAS Contamination
Government bodies delayed public notification, withheld risk assessments, and failed to advise residents early.
This deliberate silence mirrors the approach to inherited chemical exposure—no warning, no information, no accountability.
bottom of page