Defence faces charges over fatal crash

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions has charged the department of defence with federal safety violations after two soldiers were killed in a vehicle rollover in north Queensland.

The soldiers were fatally injured when their vehicle rolled on an unsealed road in August 2021 during a training exercise.

The defence department faces a single criminal charge under the WHS Act 2011 following an investigation conducted by Comcare.

Comcare accuses the department of failing to train and instruct workers, ‘prepare, and provide workers with, an adequate Safety Management Plan’ and failing to ‘seek installation of road markers.’

The department could be fined up to $1.5 million if found guilty.

Read the original article here.