More than half of all Ambulance Victoria employees have experienced bullying at work and almost one in five experienced sexual harassment, an independent review by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission has found.
The first part of the review, which included a survey of more than 2,000 Ambulance Victoria employees, was released on Tuesday. It found that 52.4% reported experiencing bullying, 47.2% said they had experienced discrimination in the workforce, 34% had experienced victimisation, and 17.4% had experienced sexual assault.
Commissioner Ro Allen said these experiences had a “profound” impact on many of the 255 who spoke in depth to the inquiry.
Allen said:
“The Victorian community rightly hold Ambulance Victoria in high regard, due to the incredible dedication and care that so many of us have experienced from the service.
“It is vitally important that that same level of care be extended to all who work for Ambulance Victoria, and that those within the organisation treat each other with the same level of respect and compassion that they give to the community.”
The report found that many members of Ambulance Victoria do not feel safe or valued in the workplace. One respondent told the commission:
“This organisation’s culture is unsafe for people who are not white males. It’s really bad.”
Ambulance Victoria’s chairman, Ken Lay, said the report was “both painful and confronting” and revealed a depth of discrimination, bullying and harassment in the workplace that was “deeply disturbing”.
The report made 24 recommendations, all of which have been accepted by Ambulance Victoria. In a statement, health minister Martin Foley said the behaviour and culture outlined in the report was “simply unacceptable and in no way meets the standards this government, and the broader community, expect of a workplace”.
Foley said:
“To anyone in Ambulance Victoria who has experienced discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying and victimisation of any kind – please know we hear you, we believe you and there will be immediate action taken.”
Volume two of the final report will be released in March.
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