Zoo staff fear safety risks amid Zoos Victoria redundancy dispute

A restructure at Zoos Victoria has left staff fearing for worker and patron safety, including concerns about fewer armed and emergency personnel in case of an escaped animal or other crisis.

In June, staff were told through a series of meetings of the significant restructure. Some were informed weeks after their colleagues.

Workers were promised no frontline roles would be affected – but the definition of frontline was unclear, sparking concerns for jobs across administration, conservation and education.

Parents entering bathrooms at the zoo were suddenly greeted with posters urging the public to petition against cuts, which the Community and Public Sector Union labelled “ill-conceived and far-reaching”.

“No part of the zoo will be unaffected,” the union warned as part of its campaign.

It was an uncomfortably public dispute for an organisation that welcomes as many as 2.7 million visitors a year.

The nervous wait for staff extended for months. While the plan was announced in June, consultation on a final structure was not bedded down until August.

In the end, 54 redundancies were outlined, about 5 per cent of the workforce, to find $7.7 million in savings.

Over the months spent waiting, staff morale depleted to crisis point. The state’s workplace watchdog last month slapped management with an order to rectify “psychosocial hazards”, following reports people were crying while working alongside potentially deadly animals, among other issues.

Zoos Victoria has complied with the order, with a spokeswoman saying an inspector acknowledged its “significant work undertaken to review, monitor and strengthen our management of psychosocial hazards and risks during the consultation process”.

“The inspection report recognised a range of measures implemented by Zoos Victoria, including careful hazard and incident monitoring, frequent consultation, strong psychosocial risk controls, improved guidance and support resources for employees and managers, and ongoing leadership oversight and communication,” the Zoos Victoria spokeswoman said.

The watchdog confirmed there are no outstanding notices hanging over Zoos Victoria.

However, staff still harbour serious safety concerns as the team tasked with managing zoo emergencies dwindles.

Almost half of the more than 90 chief wardens and designated firearms officers working across the organisation are on the chopping block in the redundancies, with management cutting about 54 full-time equivalent roles.

The people in these compliance team roles cycle through them on a roster and might perform them once or twice a week alongside their usual jobs of zookeeper, horticulturalist, heavy machinery operator or retail worker.

Come late October, Melbourne Zoo could be left with four of 16 chief wardens, Werribee with 13 of an original 28 and Healesville with six of 16.

Two people are currently filling 60 per cent of the chief warden shifts at Melbourne Zoo, risking burnout, a Zoos Victoria employee speaking anonymously for fear of reprisals said.

Zoos will have to train up people to take the place of those gone from the voluntary compliance role roster. But in the meantime, the risk from aggressive patrons and large animals doesn’t stop.

“The offering of Zoos Victoria is, ‘Come and see the animals, some of which may kill you’,” said the employee, who asked to remain anonymous, fearing reprisal.

“Think of Werribee – we literally put people on a bus through the savannah.

“A burnt-out husk of a person or someone lacking in experience will struggle with any serious emergency, whether that be an animal escape, fire, aggressive person, drunk person, child safety incident, flood, chemical spill or medical emergency.”

The Zoos Victoria spokeswoman said the redundancies would “result in a modest adjustment to the number of firearm response personnel in the short term”.

“Through training, upskilling and workforce planning, these responsibilities will be distributed across newly created roles, ensuring consistent operational coverage and the continued safe management of our sites,” the spokeswoman said.

The most recent animal escape at Melbourne Zoo was in 2019, when orangutan Malu got out of its exhibit, sending the zoo into a short lockdown. The same orangutan escaped in 2015 by using a blanket to climb through a hole onto the top of its exhibit.

The staff member feared even people who stayed on with Zoos Victoria would bow out of the voluntary compliance team roles, wrecked from the “mismanaged” redundancy process and reluctant to take on a heavier burden with fewer, tired staff.

It’s a legal requirement for the zoos with “category one”, or potentially deadly animals, to have a firearms officer on site before they can open.

Most workers who act in this role are staying on (Melbourne is losing three of its 12, Werribee two of its 22 and Healesville doesn’t require firearms officers) – but they are working under significant stress, the anonymous staff member said.

The firearms officers have to stand by with rifles when staff move, examine or operate on big, dangerous animals – sometimes for hours on end, well past their rostered hours.

Veterinarians sedate animals using dart guns ahead of medical procedures, of which there’s generally one a month at Zoos Victoria, the anonymous staff member said.

The last time an animal was shot and killed after escaping the zoo was in the 1950s, when an escaped rhesus monkey was shot dead, as was a polar bear that mauled two zoo workers.

“Having the responsibility to shoot something that they have a level of affection for already takes a toll,” the staff member said.

“Already, they will need debriefing, counselling, various other things afterwards. But you’re asking them to do that while they’re also under a mental load of wondering, ‘Have I got a job? I’m not sure I am going to pay the bills.’

“How does one have a clear head for that?”

The restructure is due to take effect on October 19, but some staff are still stuck in limbo, unsure of whether they’re going or staying on in other roles.

Jiselle Hanna, Victorian branch secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, said the “loss of staff with emergency management responsibilities should concern every Victorian”.

“This creates a deficit of staff who can respond effectively if an emergency occurs, and we have no information about how quickly Zoos Victoria can find and train staff who are willing to take on this work,” Hanna told The Age.

“Zoos are complex and potentially dangerous workplaces. Animals are moved, firearms and dart guns are used, and dangerous chemicals are stored on site.

“The reason this has been done safely in the past is because experienced staff know how to manage those risks and respond when something goes wrong. If Zoos Victoria is making those people redundant, it needs to explain how it intends to keep staff and visitors safe.”

WorkSafe’s improvement notice to the organisation on August 13 noted that, despite more than two dozen measures meant to help staff during the redundancies, there was no evidence staff who were still struggling and stressed had been offered extra support.

Staff have also had difficult conversations with visitors to the zoos, complaining about their experiences after the decision to stop non-essential work, WorkSafe Victoria’s improvement notice said.

“There is no evidence to suggest that organisation-wide controls for change management or handling challenging communication with visitors have been considered, reviewed or revised,” the order said.

This remains a challenge for Zoos Victoria. As parents continue to bring their children along, they will ask whether the experience is the same as it was last time.

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