The Defence Department has admitted military personnel in all three services may have been exposed to a toxic metal. Former Navy sailors have raised concerns about toxic dust they may have inhaled from using cleaning equipment, known as jason pistols, which used beryllium needles to scour paint and rust from ships.
Beryllium has been linked to respiratory illness and cancer.
Army special forces officers and RAAF ground crew who believed they may have been harmed while fixing equipment containing the metal have also sought legal and medical advice.
The department has now posted advice on its website admitting that there was a risk of exposure to beryllium.
"Some current and former members of the ADF are concerned about exposure to beryllium dust generated by the use of (jason pistols) with copper-beryllium needles, which were used in potentially explosive environments," the advice said.
"There is also a risk of exposure to beryllium in maintainers of the RAAF Vulcan cannon, or, occasionally, in those working with certain types of electronic equipment."
The department said berylliosis, the chronic lung disease caused by beryllium, was rare in Australia.
It said there was no prevention or cure, but some medications could ease the symptoms.
The department is investigating the extent of the problem and asked former and serving personnel to seek medical advice if they had concerns.
Naval Tankerman Association president Bob Currin said the department needed to go further and offer medical tests.
"The Navy or the Department of Defence has not come out and said that 'Yes, these are the tests you require and this is where you get the tests'," Mr Currin said.
"We've had a large number of guys ring in that have scarring on the lungs and all they know is (that) the diagnosis is that it's not asbestosis.
"These guys are worrying they may be suffering from the beryllium poisoning but can't confirm it."
Mr Currin said since the issue was raised he had also received calls from serving Navy personnel about poor safety practices.
"Even though beryllium is no longer on board ships safety precautions on the jason pistols have not changed," he said.
"The problem is they are being issued paper surgical masks for protection, which clog up in five to 10 minutes, and they are breathing in chromate paint dust, which is a very strong carcinogen (cancer-causing agent).
"It's not worrying them at moment but in 15 to 20 years they will have a problem.
"The biggest problem is the attitude still hasn't changed - the culture is the same as it was 25 years ago."
Meanwhile, the Australia Defence Association has joined calls for an inquiry into the issue.
"Defence will obviously, as it had to recently with the problem with the cleaning of the fuel tanks on F-111 aircraft affecting people ... have to (run) a huge study of people potentially to have been exposed to it during their career," ADA director Neil James told ABC Radio.
"But in many cases the records of this aren't going to be very good, which doesn't really help console people who think they may have been exposed during their naval career."
AAP