Australian army in privacy breach

TOWNSVILLE, Australia, March 5 (UPI) -- The Australian army is on the defensive following the online publication of private data for as many as 80 soldiers.

Medical information, discipline records and psychology reports of personnel at the Lavarack Barracks, a large army base near Townsville in northeastern Australia, were inadvertently posted to a Web site. The military said it corrected the problem within a day and is cooperating with an inquiry.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported the data included allegations of sexual abuse, miscarriage by a soldier's wife, marriage problems, hygiene issues and attitudes toward work.

One discharged soldier, Steven Bell, told television reporters of a training incident in which he nearly drowned in a submerged helicopter simulation, which led to post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression, all of which was included in the personal details posted online. After leaving the Army, Bell complained to the privacy commissioner, initiating the inquiry.

"If the Department of Defense can't be trusted to keep secrets then there's something seriously wrong," former New South Wales privacy commissioner Chris Puplick said, adding he expects the government to "undertake an audit of what has happened to find out how many breaches there have been."