Australian government considers compensation for Afghanistan war crime victims

Brereton’s report said Australia need not wait for a court to establish criminal liability before making compensation payments. Photograph: Corporal Raymond Vance

The Australian government is looking for “a way forward” to compensate families of victims of alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, the defence minister has told legal advocates.

But officials continue to warn about the complexity of the compensation issue, one of the key outstanding recommendations from the landmark Brereton inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces soldiers.