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A NSW parliamentary inquiry has condemned the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service over claims it fostered a wilful disregard for safety, systemic sexism, bullying and harassment, in a series of findings that threaten the future of the iconic emergency helicopter service.
Describing the failures as inexcusable and disturbing, the bipartisan committee recommended stripping the $500 million taxpayer-funded contract from the helicopter service unless NSW Ambulance can be satisfied it is a safe workplace.
The findings follow an investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes last year, which revealed a dozen whistleblowers had accused Westpac Rescue of “creating a culture of fear” that endangered the health and safety of its personnel, ignored sexual harassment, backdated training certificates, put patients at risk and silenced dissent through the use of non-disclosure agreements.
“The allegations heard regarding the Northern NSW Rescue Helicopter Service were disturbing, detailing serious non-compliance with safety standards and wilful disregard for safety breaches alongside systemic sexism, bullying and harassment,” the inquiry found.
“In an already high-risk, high-consequence healthcare environment, such failures are inexcusable.”
Westpac Rescue, which runs medical evacuation operations in Northern NSW from Newcastle to the Queensland border, is distinct from Westpac Lifesaver, which flies missions around Sydney. Before the inquiry began late last year, Westpac Rescue denied “there are ongoing endemic safety or cultural issues within the organisation”.
Stacey Price, Westpac Rescue’s former training co-ordinator, said she became so concerned for her safety after raising concerns about compliance at the service that she considered wearing bodycams and microphones at work to protect herself.
“I was asked if I was a pig on a spit. Do they take me one at a time and the others watch, or if I preferred to ‘take it rough’ by having a box ‘rammed into her c—ainer’,” she said.
Several staff said they were left with nowhere to turn in a workplace where it’s alleged that used Borat-style mankinis were thrown on women’s desks, and a senior staff member joked about having women on their knees at a golf day.
Other employees alleged they were bullied and overlooked for promotions in favour of friends of senior staff in an environment fuelled by “old-school military-style behaviour”.
“The books were cooked,” one anonymous whistleblower wrote to Westpac Rescue’s general counsel in 2023, one of a dozen whistleblower complaints received by Westpac Rescue’s board which were not passed onto the NSW government.
The charity celebrated its achievements through lavish Cirque du Soleil-style balls and “Chopper Chics”, who were invited into the hangar to drink champagne while pilots and air crew were on duty to fly critical missions.
After months of delay, the charity has refused to release an internal investigation into its operations to the government despite receiving 60 per cent of its funding from taxpayers. Whistleblowers have also been blocked from speaking publicly to the inquiry through non-disclosure agreements.
The inquiry said that staff had no faith in the independence of Westpac Rescue’s internal review and that it was deeply troubled by the evidence it heard of a culture at Westpac Rescue designed to silence staff.
NSW Ambulance claims it has not been able to conduct its own investigation because Westpac Rescue is a private operation. Westpac Rescue is now in a stand-off with Health Minister Ryan Park, who has demanded an unredacted version of Westpac Rescue’s investigation.
“Again, I want to make it clear to that service, we expect an unredacted report. I think more importantly than [NSW Ambulance] expects it, the community expect and deserves it,” Park said after the release of the inquiry’s findings.
“From there, we will enter into negotiations or a process around what the next iteration of that contract looks like.”
Price said it was time for NSW Ambulance to step in.
“If NSW Ambulance has contractual oversight powers, why wasn’t it NSW Ambulance conducting an independent investigation into its own government contractor, rather than relying on an investigation commissioned and controlled by the contractor itself?” she said.
The government is also running out of time if it wants to secure an alternative provider to cover helicopter rescue operations for most of the state. Westpac Rescue’s $500 million decade-long contract is due to finish in May. There are two other major emergency helicopter operators in NSW, Toll and CareFlight.
The inquiry, which has been examining private-public healthcare partnerships across Calvary Mater, Orange and Bathurst Hospitals as well as Westpac Rescue, said the arrangements were failing to function as public healthcare services should.
“As a result, patients, frontline staff, and the wider NSW community are being profoundly let down,” the inquiry said. “The committee recommends that unless NSW Ambulance is satisfied of ongoing work safety, it should not extend the contract with (Westpac Rescue).”
Westpac Rescue was contacted for comment.
With Max Maddison
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Eryk Bagshaw is an investigative reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.He was previously North Asia correspondent. Reach him securely on Signal @bagshawe.01Connect via X or email.
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