A NAVAL officer accused of spanking a junior female sailor told her it was to teach her discipline and she should forget about it, a military court has heard.

The court martial in Canberra on Thursday heard a secret recording the sailor made of a conversation between her and Lieutenant Commander John Alan Jones.

Jones has pleaded not guilty to 23 charges relating to nine acts of indecency alleged to have occurred between February 1 and October 20, 2010.

Five of those incidents allegedly involved him smacking the sailor's bottom.

She recorded the conversation in November 2010 after talking to other members of the ship's crew about Jones' alleged behaviour.

In the recording, played to the court martial, the sailor, who cannot be identified, is heard telling Jones repeatedly she felt stressed about it.

Several times Jones said it was for her own benefit.

"All it was about was you being disciplined," the court martial heard him say in the recording. "It wasn't so much that I wanted you naked, it was more a test to see how obedient and compliant you were going to be."

He told the sailor he thought she had developed and grown confidence.

At the end of the conversation, Jones can be heard telling the sailor: "Try and put it out of your mind and move forward. I'm sorry if I made you awkward in any way, mate."

In a bizarre earlier development, the court martial heard the female sailor had been offered a job in late 2010 as an executive assistant for a man named Don Walker.

"The other part of it was he wants ... an heir, like a child," she told the court martial.

"He promised me that he'd look after me and give me about a million dollars."

The junior sailor, who is still a member of the navy, said she discussed the job application and all it entailed with Jones.

The prosecutor had sought to have Mr Walker's name suppressed, but Judge Advocate Jennifer Woodward said because his name was included in witness statements given to defence counsel, she would not suppress his identity.

Afterward, the defence began its cross-examination of the female sailor.

Lieutenant Commander Alister Abadee discussed the regular mandatory equity and diversity training the sailor, like all naval staff, took part in.

He asked the junior sailor if she remembered the sections on sexual harassment, inappropriate relationships and reporting unacceptable behaviour.

The woman broke down when she told the court that Lieutenant Commander John Alan Jones had warned against taking a trip to visit her dying grandmother - during which she passed away from cancer - and she'd made a pact at her grandmother's grave not to let him spank her again.

The woman said she was only patted on the bottom upon her return but that Jones had earlier told her to act like a daughter who was a "naughty girl" needing discipline by laying across his lap and being spanked.

"He always told me to say, 'I have been a naughty girl, JJ. Smack me'," she told the court via video link.

"He hit me hard. He wanted to get my bottom nice and red."

She said he started disciplining her and testing her obedience, including one incident at her home after dining out together. She said he became angry about her telling others about the advice - and had insisted on spanking her 10 times after he repeatedly ordered her to stand up and down.

"He said he knows a lot of friends in high positions," she said.

"I was scared of him."

The woman told the court a later incident at the home was triggered by her driving without a licence.

She said: "He got me to lay down on his lap ... he got me to take my stockings off. He said each cheek deserved 20 smacks. He said, 'You are like my third daughter'."

Opening the trial earlier for the prosecution, Flight Lieutenant Steven Whybrow said Jones admitted to some spanking incidents but was wrong to claim it was consensual or not indecent.

"Consent was obtained by his abuse of authority," Flt Lt Whybrow said.

Flt Lt Whybrow said a laptop containing sadomasochistic pornography was thrown away by Jones in an act of guilt as the relationship ended.

The court martial continues.