Australian Defence Force whistleblower David McBride was released from prison on August 13 after serving a 2 year and 3 month non-parole period for leaking classified documents about war crimes in Afghanistan to the ABC.

Those documents revealed a culture of cover-up among senior management in the battlefield. McBride is the only person to have served time over the war crimes scandal.

McBride was sentenced to 5 years and 8 months by the ACT Supreme Court’s Justice David Mossop in May 2024. Federal Attorney General Michelle Rowland had the power to release the former military lawyer.

After serving as an Australian Defence Force legal officer in Afghanistan over 2012 and 2013, McBride became concerned over a decision by then ADF chief David Hurley to overhaul the rules of engagement, or the directives regarding soldier behaviour in battle, in late 2013. McBride considered that the ranks were being blamed for the manner in which top brass had been running the war.

At the same time as the ADF lawyer was questioning the way the ADF was undertaking its rules of engagement, a researcher was raising the alarm about a culture that viewed war crimes favourably. McBride was also pondering briefings, relating to incidents that were said to justify the reforms, that didn’t involve the required legal prerequisites to start prosecution.

As he was leaving the Alexander Maconochie Centre, on Ngunnawal land in Canberra, McBride told the media that........

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