Ben Roberts-Smith | |
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![]() Roberts-Smith in 2015 | |
Born | Perth, Western Australia | 1 November 1978
Allegiance | Australia |
Service/ | Australian Army (1996–2013) Australian Army Reserve (2013–2015) |
Years of service | 1996–2015 |
Rank | Corporal |
Unit | 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1997–2003) Special Air Service Regiment (2003–2013) |
Battles/wars | International Force East Timor War in Afghanistan Iraq War |
Awards | Victoria Cross for Australia Medal for Gallantry Commendation for Distinguished Service |
Spouse(s) |
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Relations |
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Other work | Chairman of the National Australia Day Council (2014–2017) General manager of Seven Queensland (2015–2023) |
Benjamin Roberts-Smith VC, MG (born 1 November 1978) is an Australian former soldier[1] who, in a civil defamation trial in 2023 he initiated in the Federal Court of Australia, was found to have committed war crimes (including murder) in Afghanistan during 2009, 2010 and 2012.[2][3][4][5] An appeal to a Full Court of the Federal Court, comprising three judges, commenced on 5 February 2024.[6][7][8]
Roberts-Smith was awarded a Medal for Gallantry in 2006, the Victoria Cross for Australia in 2011, and a Commendation for Distinguished Service in 2012.[9][10] After discharge from the Australian Army in 2013, he was granted a scholarship to study business at the University of Queensland. In 2015, he was appointed deputy general manager of the regional television network Seven Queensland and later, general manager of Seven Brisbane until temporarily stepping down in 2021 to focus on his defamation action against Nine Entertainment. Following the defamation outcome in 2023, Roberts-Smith resigned from Seven West Media.[11]
In 2017, Roberts-Smith's actions in Afghanistan came under scrutiny in light of an independent war crimes inquiry into "questions of unlawful conduct concerning (Australia's) Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan".[12] In November 2018, the Australian Federal Police launched an investigation into Roberts-Smith over allegations he committed war crimes in Afghanistan.[13]
With assistance from a legal team hired by Seven Network owner Kerry Stokes, Roberts-Smith commenced defamation proceedings in August 2018 against Nine Entertainment publications The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, and against The Canberra Times, and also named each of the three journalists involved in reporting alleged acts of bullying and war crimes committed by him.[14]
The civil trial commenced in June 2021 in the Federal Court in Sydney.[15] The media outlets mounted a defence which required them to prove the truth of their claims based on the civil standard of proof, on the balance of probabilities, applying the Briginshaw principle.[16] In June 2023, Justice Anthony Besanko dismissed Roberts-Smith's defamation case against the three publications, ruling that it was proven to the standard required in Australian defamation law that Roberts-Smith murdered four Afghans and had broken the rules of military engagement.[16][17][18]
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