A Defence inquiry in Sydney has heard evidence of steroid abuse, public sex acts and inappropriate relationships among crew members on board HMAS Success.

Lieutenant Dianne Markowski, a Navy equity and diversity officer, is giving evidence at an inquiry into allegations of unacceptable behaviour aboard the ship.

She was sent to conduct behaviour workshops aboard HMAS Success in May last year.

In a statement to the inquiry, Lieutenant Markowski detailed a number of incidents she had been informed about as a result of the workshops.

In one case she was told two junior sailors had engaged in a public sex act in a Chinese bar.

A crew member had overheard two senior sailors talking about the incident. One of them had spoken about using an item in the bar as a megaphone to encourage other sailors to come and watch.

In another incident, a junior female sailor was allegedly assaulted by a male sailor during a steroid-fuelled rage.

The statement also outlined an incident involving a senior male sailor propositioning a female sailor for sex. The woman was allegedly told she would have a bounty placed on her head if she did not cooperate.

There was evidence in the statement about a group of three male sailors being overheard gloating about having sex with their female colleagues.

It is alleged the sailors were discussing details about the genitals of female sailors as a way to confirm they had slept with them.

Lieutenant Markowski said she was also approached by a junior female sailor who was so drunk during a stopover in Manila she could not recall whether she had consented to sex with a senior sailor.

The Lieutenant said the sailor felt extremely embarrassed when she woke up in a hotel room next to the man and she could not remember how the situation had come about.

Feared for safety

Lieutenant Markowski said one male sailor told her he had been threatened by a chief petty officer and he feared for his safety.

She told the inquiry the sailor had been extremely stressed and upset and feared that making a formal complaint would ruin his career.

The chief petty officer, along with three other male crew members, were removed from the ship when it docked in Singapore.

In evidence to the inquiry yesterday, the Commanding Officer of HMAS Success, Commander Simon Brown, said the sailors were ordered off because he believed they had made threats of physical violence against other sailors and he wanted to ensure the safety of his crew.

Under cross-examination, Lieutenant Markowski told the inquiry there was a “ship-wide acknowledgment” that a predatory culture existed on board HMAS Success.

She said the male marine technician Petty Officers were particularly negative during the training sessions she conducted to reinforce workplace values and they did not want to participate.

But the Lieutenant denied she took a confrontational approach to the group and accused the officers of failing to do their jobs.