CANBERRA - Australian Defense force chief Angus Houston on Tuesday said a Commission of Inquiry report into allegations of sexual misconduct on HMAS Success raises serious concerns about navy culture.

Air Chief Marshal Houston had received the 400-page first part of the HMAS Success Commission of Inquiry's report on an alleged sex ring operating onboard the ship during March to May 2009, when it was deployed to the Philippines, Singapore and other parts of Asia.

The inquiry into conduct aboard HMAS Success heard reports of an entrenched culture of disrespect for women aboard the ship, with a group of male sailors putting dollar values or "bounties" on female crew.

Known as The Ledger, the alleged sex ring involved members detailing their conquests on paper and placing dollar values on each female sailor they had sex with during an overseas deployment in 2009.

"On my very quick review, it is clear to me that the report raises very serious issues," Houston said in a statement released on Tuesday.

Those issues included questions about individual accountability and broader cultural and institutional issues and concerns, and Houston said it is going to take time to analyze and understand the detail of the findings and conclusions.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Stephen Smith told ABC Radio that the report raised "very concerning" issues and would be released publicly in the next few weeks.

"To be blunt about it, (the report) doesn't make good reading, either about the suggestions of individual conduct, or the suggestions of discipline, or the suggestions of a particular type of culture," he told ABC News on Tuesday.

"The (defense) command structure down has zero tolerance for such unacceptable behavior."

Smith said he expects to receive the rest of the report by the middle of the year.

The inquiry was launched by the defense department after an initial investigation was deemed to be biased.