Student paramedic wins battle with Ambulance Victoria over beard policy

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Ambulance Victoria will now allow paramedics and students to wear beards for cultural, religious and medical reasons. It comes after student Prabhjeet Gill, who is Sikh, was refused a mask-fitting appointment for a work placement because he was not clean shaven.

Transcript

00:00Probjee Gill grew up thinking of paramedics as superheroes, and he desperately wanted to be one.

00:09It was really tunnel vision. It was being a paramedic or nothing else.

00:12The Monash University student's religious beliefs prevent him from shaving,

00:16so when he went to have a mask fitted ahead of his first clinical placement,

00:20he proposed using the Sing Tata method, which is used elsewhere in Australia and the world.

00:26But the morning of his appointment, it was cancelled.

00:29I was advised that Ambulance Victoria is not considering the Sing Tata method any time in the future,

00:35and that my only option was to be clean-shaven.

00:37Probjee Gill nearly gave up, and while he was later given an individual exemption,

00:42he complained to the Australian Human Rights Commission.

00:45This week, Ambulance Victoria backed down.

00:48It doesn't only impact the Sikh community, you've got the Jewish community, Muslim community,

00:53anyone who wants to have a beard.

00:55And to be honest, in this day and age, we need more paramedics out there.

00:59It's a win for everyone.

01:01Ambulance Victoria says all AV employees who need it will now have access to the Sing Tata method of mask fitting.

01:09The union hopes the change will lead to a more diverse ambulance service.

01:13Hopefully we haven't missed out on really good people, really good candidates to become paramedics because of this rule.

01:19And hopefully now, with Probjeet taking this battle forward,

01:21he's opened a bit of a floodgate of other people who previously might not have had a go at being a paramedic,

01:27may now feel comfortable doing so.

01:30Nobody should ever have to fight against a state government organisation

01:33to be able to wear their religious identity.

01:36Leaving Probjeet free to chase his dreams.

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