Systemic bullying amongst emergency services

Ambulance Australia has been deluged with allegations of widespread gender-based bullying and boys’ club culture that drives women out of the organisation.

This issue was the subject of a 2018 Parliamentary Inquiry, the findings of which were damning:
“The committee was shocked by the many cases presented to us and by the seriousness of the allegations, which at times seemed to go unnoticed by the agency itself.

It is unacceptable that emergency services workers, who are there to help our communities in times of need, are subjected to such inappropriate behaviours in their day to day work.

It is even more disappointing to see that the actions, or should I say inactions, of the agencies in investigating and responding to bullying allegations, have in some cases done nothing but cause further angst and trauma.”

And yet this ‘paramilitary’ culture seems to have continued unchecked.

There has been little improvement in workplace culture since the Inquiry, as demonstrated by the persistence of workplace bullying and harassment. Further compromising the Inquiry’s effectiveness is the fact that many paramedics have since revealed that they were fearful of speaking to the independent inquiry, especially if they had signed an Ambulance Victoria confidentiality deed. 

Many paramedics told The Sunday Age they did not feel safe making complaints about maltreatment to the organisation’s professional conduct unit, established in 2018, because they had seen retribution towards people who had done so.

If you work in emergency services and feel that you have been subject to systemic bullying and/or harassment, please contact Class PR today.