News

Media Release

March 11, 2016

Firefighters’ Union calls for more women in job

The 6,200 member Fire Brigade Employees’ Union of NSW (FBEU), which has a long-standing commitment to diversity, is calling on the Baird Government to ensure that more women are employed in this year’s firefighter recruitment campaign.

“Our first women firefighters started in NSW in 1985 yet 30 years later barely 5% of FRNSW’s fulltime firefighters are women, and none are senior officers,” said FBEU President Darin Sullivan.

“The FBEU wants our job and our Union to reflect our communities and that means 50% women, not 5%. We support a new approach.”

“Even a shift to guaranteed 50:50 recruitment today would still require another 30 years before we reach gender parity. So real action is needed, and needed now.”

“We know women can do the job, because they’ve been doing it for three decades. Affirmative action in recruitment will mean more women, not lower standards. Every new firefighter, man or woman, will continue to meet FRNSW’s high standards for employment.”