A parliamentary inquiry is set to recommend that NSW Ambulance not extend its contract with the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service's northern NSW operation, unless it is satisfied with workplace safety.
The inquiry report, to be released today, is also set to recommend that NSW Ambulance ensures a transparent investigation into workplace safety and staff conduct at the rescue service.
The northern NSW service has bases at Belmont, Lismore and Tamworth and its administration at Broadmeadow.
Stacey Price, the rescue service's former training co-ordinator, said she was sexually harassed and bullied after she raised concerns about safety compliance.
Ms Price raised her concerns through the parliamentary inquiry into the Calvary Mater hospital. Her issue was not linked to the Mater scandal, but the parliamentary committee agreed to hear her case.
In a submission to the inquiry, Ms Price said she worked for the rescue service from 2018 to 2024.
"I observed a number of governance, safety and cultural issues," she said.
Ms Price said in her submission she "experienced and also witnessed a number of psychosocial risks in the workplace".
"These included workplace bullying, sexual harassment and intimidation in professional settings and hostility toward individuals who raised concerns," she said.
"In my own experience, bullying behaviour often occurred when I raised compliance concerns as part of my role.
"Examples included hostile responses when concerns were raised and attempts to undermine my professional responsibilities."
She said she also experienced "personal remarks directed toward my appearance, including comments about my face and how I looked".
"I was advised by the organisation's HR manager to consider how my facial expressions might be perceived in meetings ... when interacting with colleagues who were behaving in a hostile manner," she said.
"I was also told that I may have been misinterpreting comments, taking remarks out of context, or should be able to 'take a joke'."
She said an independent medical assessment associated with the workers compensation process "identified PTSD and anxiety related to my workplace experiences".
The rescue service operates under a 10-year contract with NSW Ambulance on behalf of NSW Health. The contract ends in May next year, but there's a five-year extension option which has not yet been approved.
The service costs about $60 million a year to run, of which about $41 million was funded by the NSW government and grants, 2025 financial statements show.
The rescue service gained more than $18 million through fundraising in 2024-25, which amounted to net fundraising of $11 million after expenses.
Ms Price said operational personnel had been performing duties for about two years "without having been formally issued the required statements of attainment, even though internal systems recorded the competencies as completed".
"I raised this internally as a serious regulatory compliance concern," she said.
She said this related to "contractual obligations associated with the NSW Ambulance aeromedical services contract".
In a meeting about compliance with a national training requirement, she said she was told "f*** off - we don't do that here, we don't need to do that".
At an inquiry hearing in May, NSW Ambulance executive director Sarah Coombes said the rescue service had "commissioned an independent legal firm" to conduct a review, but it was "not our process to manage or intervene in".
The rescue service was contacted for comment.
In November, its chief executive Steven Underwood said the allegations were "distressing and disturbing".
"Neither I, or the service, will tolerate harassment of any type, bullying, inappropriate behaviours or any kind of discrimination.
"We will not compromise on the safe and effective delivery of our world-class aeromedical and search and rescue capability. We are safe to operate."
