‘Toxic, macho’ culture exposed in Ambulance Victoria

A “toxic and macho” culture inside one industry dominated by alpha males has been described as being from “a different time”.

An ambulance speeds away from the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Ambulance, Generic. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Ambulance Victoria’s acting chief executive officer has expressed sadness after a major report exposed a toxic and macho culture inside the organisation.

The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission released its second report into the emergency service’s workplace structure mere months after an initial report highlighted issues with bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment.

Part two, released on Thursday, found there continued to be issues within Ambulance Victoria’s workplace structure, with barriers around gender and diversity continuing to hold the organisation back.

Ambulance Victoria’s Libby Murphy said the organisation had come from an era where women were not involved.

“We’ve only had women, who are many of the people who’ve given their stories in this, in the organisation for 35 years. I think the simple fact is we do actually need to get better,” Ms Murphy said.

The review found that while Ambulance Victoria had adopted a range of measures intended to ensure fair and inclusive attraction and recruitment efforts, there were ongoing barriers that impeded progression inside the organisation for women and workers from diverse backgrounds.

Human Rights Commissioner Ro Allen said the report showed an outdated and male-dominated culture within Ambulance Victoria.

“I think what we’re saying in this report is clearly the structure has been set up for a different time for men,” they said.

“It’s not about band-aiding or sticking things on the structure that have happened along the way, it’s about pulling down the structure and starting again so that Ambulance Victoria is inclusive for everybody.”

Commissioner Allen said there was a particular need to increase the representation of women in senior operational and specialist clinical roles and a need to increase broader diversity across the workforce as a whole.

“This is a time for heads to come together, but I also believe everybody is accountable for their actions,” they said.

“This review, of course, is systemic, so we don’t name individuals.

“What needs to happen now is that Ambulance Victoria needs to develop a robust complaint system where individuals feel heard, and that’s where the accountability should happen.”

The commission made a further 19 recommendations together with the 24 recommendations from part one.

Ms Murphy said Ambulance Victoria was “fully committed” to all 43 recommendations.

“We understand and hear what our workforce is saying and we will walk with them as an organisation on the path to change,” she said.

The commission made 19 recommendations. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

The report noted that Ambulance Victoria had made a concerted effort to increase female representation in its roles, with women making up just over half of the overall workforce.

But the report read that despite a notable increase in female employees between 2016 and 2021, men dominated leadership roles within the organisation.

“The effects of the organisation’s male-dominated origins continue to be seen at the management and senior levels of the operational workforce,” the report read.

Men hold between 60.3 per cent and 69.5 per cent of managerial roles across operations support, team managers, senior team managers and senior managers.

Specialist clinical roles also continued to be male-dominated.

“At the moment power sits with men, and women are in roles that have

no decision rights,” an anonymous interview participant told the VEOHRC.

“We have functional accountabilities … We sit at that table with a functional accountability with no authority.

“And so, what it would mean to prioritise (workplace equality) would be to share the decision-making rights.”

The report found that men dominated senior roles. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

The issue also extended to career advancement across Ambulance Victoria, with the report’s respondents concerned harmful gender and cultural stereotypes had stunted advancement opportunities for operational staff.

Those interviewed claimed there was often a toxic view that paramedics were supposed to be white, able-bodied and alpha-males, and the men who fitted those roles dominated the MICA and Air-Ambulance chapters.

The VEOHRC heard that those paramedics were considered clinically superior and that macho and alpha-male personalities were common, with men typically seen as matching those traits considered more suitable for career advancement opportunities.

“There was a regional director role vacant and a senior staff member made some comments that I could not believe he said out loud,” one respondent told the VEOHRC.

“He said, ‘This role isn’t right for women because it’s such long hours’, so it was a really interesting perception that seniority in paramedicine means that it’s not family friendly and therefore only men will do it.”

The report found a staggering number of women said certain barriers would prevent them from progressing their career within the organisation. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

The report found 67.1 per cent of women said certain barriers would prevent them from applying for a transfer, promotion or different position, including issues around flexible work, carer or parental responsibilities and gender.

The report further said while Ambulance Victoria had trialled new ways of flexible work, there were systemic barriers in the way, particularly for women and workers with parenting responsibilities.

“Ambulance Victoria also does not have dedicated policies and processes regarding reasonable adjustments for workers with disability, or transition to retirement strategies to ensure respectful and non-discriminatory treatment for older workers,” the report continued.

“There are significant opportunities for Ambulance Victoria to strengthen its organisational capability to advance workplace equality.”

When asked how the report made her feel as a woman employed by Ambulance Victoria, Ms Murphy said: “To be honest, some of the stories that have been told, I’m sad”.

She also fears the organisation has lost people because the behaviour has gone on for so long, saying she would be “naive” to think that was not the case.

Ambulance Victoria’s Rebecca Hodges resigned earlier this week before the report was release.

Ms Murphy said there was no correlation and she was told about Ms Hodges’ intention to resign many months ago.