Nearly two and a half years after being detained for leaking classified Australian military documents that exposed alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, former Australian military lawyer David McBride has been released on supervised parole to serve the remainder of his sentence in the community.
McBride, a former Australian Defence Force (ADF) legal officer, pleaded guilty in 2023 to charges of stealing top-secret defence records and leaking the materials to journalists. He was formally sentenced in 2024 to a total of five years and eight months in prison. The documents he shared formed the foundation of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) 2017 *Afghan Files* investigation, a landmark reporting series that pulled back the curtain on previously unreported conduct by Australia’s elite special forces during the country’s deployment in the Afghanistan conflict. That reporting ultimately triggered a major official inquiry into alleged war crimes.
The 2020 Brereton Inquiry, led by a senior Australian judge, found credible evidence that elite ADF personnel had unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians during the war. The findings led to the establishment of the Office of the Special Investigator, a dedicated independent watchdog tasked with prosecuting accused war criminals. As of current updates, the body has finalized 39 of its 53 open cases, and two former Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers have been formally charged with murder: Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living service member, faces five counts of war-time murder, while Oliver Schulz faces one identical charge.
Confirmation of McBride’s parole approval came Thursday in a statement from a spokesperson for Australian Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, confirming that the request had been reviewed and granted. The 59-year-old has been undergoing treatment for lung cancer while in custody, and his diagnosis is described as treatable. McBride is scheduled to undergo surgery to remove a portion of his lung following his release, and will remain under structured community supervision for the duration of his sentence.
Speaking on his behalf shortly after the parole decision, advocacy group The Information Rights Project released a public statement shared by the ABC. In the message, McBride expressed gratitude to his family, saying “who never gave up on me and whose fighting spirit, love and humour inspired me every day.” He also extended thanks to a wide base of domestic and international supporters, who he said sent him consistent messages of encouragement during his detention.
McBride’s legal representative, Edwina Lloyd, called the parole board’s decision the correct outcome for the former soldier. She emphasized that McBride’s entire life has been “defined by service to Australia”, both through his decades of work as a legal officer for the ADF and through the prison term he has already served for his conviction.
The case has remained deeply divisive since McBride first leaked the documents in 2016. During his court proceedings, federal prosecutors argued that McBride’s actions were driven by a desire for “personal vindication” rather than public good, and warned that his unauthorized handling and release of classified materials created serious risks to Australia’s national security and diplomatic relationships. McBride’s legal team countered by requesting judicial leniency, arguing that he released the documents out of a sense of moral duty to the public, with honourable intentions to expose unreported criminal conduct that had been hidden from oversight.
In handing down the 2024 sentencing, the judge acknowledged that McBride had a history of good character, but ruled that his disclosure of military classified information amounted to a “gross breach of trust” and noted that the former officer had shown “no contrition” for his actions.