The minister's comments come after Fairfax Media revealed women working for the Country Fire Authority had been sexually assaulted and harassed on the job.

The revelations were contained in a leaked internal report based on confidential survey responses from 550 professional CFA staff that showed women were subject to bullying in a climate of fear and impunity for perpetrators.

On Tuesday morning Mr Merlino told reporters the government was working to increase the number of women in the fire services to tackle endemic workplace issues.

"What we've seen across multiple reports covering many years is that we've got serious cultural issues within our fire services," he said.

"We've had for many years management and workforce at war with each other and that has bred a poor culture in our fire services."

The report showed that half of male and female respondents reported being bullied, and one-third reported being harassed, including sexual harassment.

Tensions erupted in a fiery Question Time as the Opposition accused the Andrews government of failing to tackle bullying and harassment in the CFA.

CFA chief executive Frances Diver told ABC radio that management was taking the matter seriously and had acted on the report's findings.

"We need to rebuild trust in the organisation," she said.

Ms Diver said she was working to "build bridges" to ease tensions between management and the workforce.

"Sitting in trenches, throwing rocks at each other is not going to work. We need to actually partner with our workforce."

Ms Diver said she did not blame the union for the cultural problems besetting the CFA.

"The culture of an organisation is set from the top, absolutely."

The leaking of the report comes after a turbulent period of resignations and sackings over a pay dispute between the United Firefighters Union and former CFA management.

Last year, chief executive Lucinda Nolan and emergency services minister Jane Garrett both resigned over the dispute.

The CFA's previous board was then sacked by the Andrews government.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy told reporters the allegations contained in the report were the "worst kind".

"Our fire services need to understand the meaning of respect. And respect begins at the top," he said.

'"If the minister doesn't respect the CEO, the board and senior fire staff then it's no wonder that we have a culture of disrespect that has developed through our fire services."

The government has commissioned the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission to undertake a review of the state's fire services.

But the report's release has been blocked in the Supreme Court by the United Firefighters Union.