EXCLUSIVE: Documents obtained by SBS News have revealed several allegations of sexual assault made against US marines serving in Australia, with investigations into them being shifted overseas or dropped. Some survivors also say they felt discouraged by the Australian Defence Force from following through on their complaints.

One woman woke to find a US marine assaulting her in her bed, another was taken to hospital after having her drink spiked at a military barracks, and a third believed a US marine grabbed her and tried to sexually assault her at a bar. All the incidents took place in Australia’s Northern Territory, but the investigations into them were either handed over to US authorities, stalled, or dropped.

SBS News has obtained a series of reports between 2015 and 2021 from the Australian Defence Force Investigative Service (ADFIS) under freedom of information laws. They detail six alleged assaults or indecent acts involving US military personnel whilst on rotation in Australia, including members of the Marine Rotational Force - Darwin, a contingent of up to 2,200 personnel regularly based in the Northern Territory since 2011.

FFS - The case was passed on to NT Police, which took charge of the investigation, to consider whether it warranted a criminal investigation “due to jurisdictional concerns”.

As Australia’s relationship with China becomes increasingly tense, a new development in the Aussie outback seeks to strengthen ties with our US allies.

Details and photos of the much anticipated $747m army base expansion planned for the Northern Territory have been released to the public.

The new development will help the Australian Defence Force and United States house and train troops on Aussie land.

The project, which spans four locations over 580km across the top end, comes in the wake of increasing global tensions between Australia, the US and China.

The four new military sites will be located at Robertson Barracks, Kangaroo Flats, Mount Bundey and Bradshaw Field.

THE Territory could be considered to host new military exercises with Australian and US troops, given its current relationship with the ally and multimillion-dollar defence upgrades announced earlier this year.

Australia and the US are in discussions about plans for new exercises in Australia, including joint training with American army soldiers.

The proposed exercises would be modelled on Darwin’s annual Marine Rotational Force and would use a variety of military training areas, according to The Australian.

It is not known yet what training areas are of interest but the Northern Territory is a likely candidate given its long history with the US.

Queensland is another candidate.

THE US military is flying in its own Covid-19 supplies to vaccinate troops operating in Darwin. 

Special mobile refrigeration and freezer systems filled with Covid-19 vaccines arrived at Robertson Barracks on the eve of the region’s largest war games, Talisman Sabre. 

More than 17,000 troops from Australia and across the world are in Queensland for the large-scale, bilateral military exercise between Australia and the US.

The Covid-19 vaccines arrived at RAAF Darwin and were distributed to Larrakeyah and Robertson Barracks medical facilities to vaccinate US service members in Australia’s Top End.

A US Marine who arrived in the NT on July 8 has tested positive to Covid-19.

The woman, aged 22, was undertaking a mandatory 14 day quarantine at Bladin Village when she tested positive in the past 24 hours.

She has mild symptoms and is under the care of NT Health at the NT Centre for National Resilience.

The total number of cases diagnosed in the Northern Territory is 190.