Whistleblower claims of systemic bullying, harassment and sexism in the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service have become “supercharged” in recent months, says the author of an open letter calling for a new independent investigation.
The general manager of the Queensland Rural Fire Brigades Association, Justin Choveaux, said he believed he had an obligation to raise first-hand allegations from employees of the state fire service, which include claims of discrimination and bias against women and others.
He said he had been inundated with complaints about “the ongoing toxic culture” of the fire service.
Choveaux said these issued had resurfaced a decade after an inquiry into sexual harassment and workplace bullying, which demanded cultural change and found that women had been “failed” by the organisation.
“We’re here again 10 years later and it hasn’t changed,” Choveaux told Guardian Australia. “It’s become supercharged in the last four or five months. It has gone off the scales, the behaviours, and we have to do something about it right now.”
“The people who are coming to me are very, very senior. This is not the noisy outliers.”
Choveaux represents rural firefighters who are mostly volunteers, but says the complaints he has received are from paid employees within the state’s fire service.
He sent his open letter to the premier, Steven Miles, because whistleblowers “do not have faith” in QFES to investigate “as they believe the discrimination is systemic”.
“I have recently been contacted by multiple QFES paid staff with complaints of systemic contempt, bullying, harassment and discrimination based primarily on gender, professional backgrounds and progressive leadership,” the open letter says.
“Individuals report being collectively targeted and being exposed to prolonged behaviours that lead to impacts on personal and professional reputations on executives, staff and volunteers across services and that this has instilled fear, anxiety, defeatism and poor morale and psychological health.”
“These ongoing toxic behaviours are also in the form of deliberate failure to abide by government policies and community standards.”
In a statement, QFES said it took “the conduct of its employees seriously and expects the highest standard of professional and ethical behaviour”.
“[QFES] has zero tolerance of any behaviour that does not uphold an inclusive and respectful environment for its staff and volunteers,” a spokesperson said.
“QFES management wants to work with anyone with a complaint and the staff and volunteer representative bodies to address any concerns.”
The spokesperson said there was a “robust complaints management system”, which was being reviewed.
The current Queensland police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, was brought in to run QFES in 2015 after the inquiry, and has said she introduced reforms “to address instances of poor workplace behaviour and gender bias” within the fire service.
