Queensland's fire service will be overhauled like the state's police force was in the post-Fitzgerald era after a report uncovering systemic gender discrimination.
Former bureaucrat Margaret Allison handed her damning findings on the emergency organisation to Premier Campbell Newman on Friday after being commissioned to investigate claims of bullying, harassment and abuse.
She said her inquiries had been disturbing, indicating that the entire culture of the service needed an overhaul, following a failure to properly investigate and sanction unacceptable conduct or recognise the seriousness of issues.
Ms Allison's review was ordered after it was revealed in October that male firefighters at a southeast Queensland station conducted a Facebook poll to rate which of their female colleagues would be best in bed.
Three of the victims were subjected to bullying and intimidation and received a lack of support or advice from the fire service.
The women firefighters "endured many months of stress without the support and assistance of the organisation", Ms Allison said.
Long-standing fire commissioner Lee Johnson will retire earlier than expected to be replaced by assistant police commissioner Katarina Carroll, who'll immediately begin implementing the report's recommendations.
Mr Newman said on Friday the service's response had failed on "every level".
He said Ms Carroll's reforms could take up to five years to complete given the widespread nature of the problem.
"If you want a parallel, this to me is what had to happen at the start of the 90s, post-Fitzgerald, with the Queensland police service," he told reporters.
"There were deep-seated cultural issues ... cronyism, all sorts of poor employment and workplace practices. A new commissioner was brought in to reform the Queensland police service ... that's what we have to do here."
Mr Johnson, who was set to retire in the middle of next year, will take leave immediately, relinquishing the post he's held since November 2001.
Mr Newman said the commissioner was being replaced to allow for a clean start and it wasn't an indictment of his leadership.
Mr Johnson said he was shocked and appalled at the findings of the report and believed the vast majority of staff treated each other with respect and dignity.
"I find this personally confronting as commissioner as such behaviours are alien to me and certainly do not reflect the type of service that I have sought to build during my career," he said in a statement.
Firefighter and former soldier Jon Wreford, 33, was charged shortly after the Facebook incident with using the internet to menace, harass or cause offence.
Mr Newman said it was unclear if any further criminal charges against other members of the service would be brought as a result of the report.
WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE IN QLD'S FIRE SERVICE
* Recommendations be overseen by "gender representative" committee
* Rural and auxiliary fire services be subject to similar review
* Comprehensive data collated statewide on employee complaints and disciplinary matters
* New targeted recruitment campaign to promote firefighting to women
* New firefighters assigned so stations have groups of at least two women.
(Source: Independent Review of QFES)
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