South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon says a royal commission is needed to tackle “systemic abuse” in the Defence Force.

Senator Xenophon has picked up on a recommendation in a draft report by the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce (DART), which backed a royal commission before it dumped the idea in its final report.

The final report, finished in March but only recently released, said DART “no longer supports the recommendation to establish a royal commission into ADFA [the Australian Defence Force Academy]”, after speaking to former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.

Senator Xenophon says something is amiss.

“It took them five months for it to be released to the public,” he told the ABC.

“The fact that the previous chair of the DART made recommendations for a royal commission in November 2014, yet the current chair of DART, who was deputy at the time, did an about-face on that, is very concerning.

“The only way to deal with systemic abuse within defence is to have a royal commission, as the previous chair of DART has recommended.”

Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) Senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore said DART should be restored as a permanent body.

“As of October last year, the taskforce themselves admitted that 425 people had come forward with allegations of abuse but the taskforce wasn't able to accept their claims,” she said.

“[This is] either because the abuse occurred before April 2011 or the complaint was made after the 31st of May, 2013.”

Defence Force chief Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin has issued a statement saying the Defence Force Ombudsman will engage in “ongoing reforms to target the methods and means Defence applies in dealing with allegations of abuse”.