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Further implications
It is difficult not to agree with those commentators who argue that lifting the number of women in the Melbourne Fire Brigade from 3.6% to 5% is unlikely to have a significantly detrimental effect on the efficiency of the service.
The larger concern is that the quota principle may ultimately undermine firefighting services. In some places around the world, meeting quotas has been achieved by lowering selection standards. If the gaol becomes to have 15 or 20% of the service comprised of women, then it may be necessary to make the selection criteria less rigorous in order to achieve this level of female participation.. Those commentators who argue that firefighting services need to reflect the composition of the communities they serve do not seem to realise that there are some service sectors that have highly specialist requirements.
Though firefighting requires a wide range of skills, it has to be acknowledged that fundamentally it requires a significant level of physical strength. The archetypal instance that is usually given is that a firefighter has to be able to carry a large person out of a burning building. Any reduction in standards that would make it impossible for this basic rescue task to be completed is obviously not acceptable. Any quota that is set cannot be allowed to dilute this fundamental requirement.
That said, many of the physical demands currently placed on firefighters could potentially be reduced. The requirement that firefighters be tested on whether they can repeatedly lift a long extension ladder above their heads, as occurs in some jurisdictions, seems excessive. There are many features of firefighting including hoisting ladders and hoses which could be managed with mechanised supports. For example, there are robotic devices in development which could perform many of the tasks now undertaken by firefighters in a way which would allow firefighting and rescue to be undertaken at much less risk to human firefighters.
However, the greater mechanisation of firefighting is also likely to be divisive. For paid firefighters (as opposed to volunteers) it would represent a threat to their employment. What such developments will do, however, is decrease the reliance on physical strength and so open up firefighting to a much larger range of potential applicants, including more women.