of him being a Commonwealth officer. He also uploaded a number of documents to the Website in order to substantiate his concerns. These included:
- (a) an unsigned version of the IGADF Submission, which was 20 pages long and dated July 2014;
- (b) pages 74 and 75 of a 2014 ADF report titled "Review into the Treatment of Women in the Australian Defence Force";
- (c) a report commissioned by the ADF and authored by the consultancy firm Deloitte titled "Chief of Army's Women's Workshop" (9 May 2012);
- (d) a document titled "Chief of Service Committee Outcomes" which was marked "Committee in Confidence";
- (e) a document titled "Decision Brief for SOCAUST: CASAC Prebrief Submission – Enhancing Capability through Diversity – Gender Plan" (9 March 2012) marked "Committee in Confidence"; and
- (f) a two page report authored by Mr McBride titled "Illegal Investigations of Special Operations Task Group in 2013".
91․ The unsigned version of the IGADF Submission was the only document on the Website which contained information classified SECRET, but the document itself was not marked SECRET. The two documents which were marked "Committee in Confidence" contained information classified PROTECTED. The remaining documents were not marked with national security classifications, but were not otherwise publicly available.
92․ Mr McBride was not authorised to publish or communicate much of the information contained in the blog posts or the documents available on the Website. It is the conduct of publishing the material on the Website which gives rise to the offence on the schedule under s 16BA of the Crimes Act.
93․ On 31 May 2016, an officer of ADF Legal Services wrote to Mr McBride in relation to the publication of documents and information on the Website. He reminded Mr McBride of his duties as a member of the ADF not to disclose information obtained by virtue of his employment as a Commonwealth officer. He noted in the correspondence that he was "very cognizant of the need to support [Mr McBride in his] current state of health". The officer said that, as a result of the disclosure of the material on the Website, Mr McBride's Positive Vetting security clearance had been suspended and, as a result, his access to ADF systems and secure buildings was also suspended.
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