Firefighters rang bell at ‘attractive’ women in Brisbane training centre

A toxic “macho” culture and sexual harassment within the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service have been a problem for decades, a union says.

The Rural Fire Brigade Association is concerned longstanding systemic issues cannot be fixed with an independent review.

Queensland Rural Fire Brigade Association’s general manager says firefighters in the early 1990s experienced the same toxic culture and nothing had changed since.Credit: File image / QFES

The service is under fire for allegations of racism and sexism, with one incident involving male firefighters ringing a bell at “attractive” female colleagues at the Whyte Island training facility in Brisbane.

Queensland Rural Fire Brigade Association general manager Justin Choveaux said the allegations were referred to the government in January, but had been “swept under the rug”.

“They’ve just done everything they possibly can to say ‘don’t look here’,” he said.

“People don’t want to hear that their fire service may be in a really bad state of repair.”

Choveaux said firefighters in the early 1990s experienced the same toxic culture and nothing had changed since, despite a review in 2014.

“What’s the difference between now and 2014 is they’ve got better at not getting caught,” he said.

Fire and Disaster Recovery Minister Nikki Boyd called the allegations at Whyte Island “abhorrent” and said any victims should come forward.

“We have been very clear about it ... there is no place for the types of allegations that were made out at Whyte Island in a modern fire department,” she told parliament on Tuesday.

Boyd said she was made aware of the allegations in February and referred them to the state’s fire department for investigation.

“A report was provided to me that the matter had been fully investigated and the matter was closed,” she said.

Correspondence from the fire department showed it “substantiated” the Whyte Island claims in 2021 and there had been no complaints since.

Choveaux said the response from the minister and department was not good enough.

He said the first step should have been publicly reporting the systemic issues, followed by formal reprimands for perpetrators and an apology to victims.

“Did they do any of those things? No ... Yet they’re quite happy to say ‘fully investigated, nothing to see here’,” he said.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli raised concerns about the government’s transparency.

“The minister has known about this almost the entire year and Queenslanders weren’t told about it,” he told reporters.

“What has the minister done to try and make sure this cultural behaviour is stamped out and victims are given justice?”

The Liberal National Party has reportedly referred the allegations to the state’s corruption watchdog, with Crisafulli confirming “appropriate authorities” were investigating.

He said all resources needed to be used, including a possible inquiry.

Choveaux said an independent inquiry may not be enough to fix the “broken system”.

AAP