You have seen them on TV, in their distinctive blue-on-blue shirts, dashing into the breakers to the aid of stricken swimmers at Australia's most famous beach. But there's something curious about the bronzed Aussie heroes of the show Bondi Rescue - including ''Hoppo'', ''Taco'' and ''Bisho'' - there's not a woman among them.
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Waverley Council's lifeguard service employs 36 men to patrol Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches, and the lifeguards have been accused of running a machismo-driven boys club, fuelled by their TV celebrity status, where women aren't welcome.
They disagree.
''It's not an easy job. It's tough for anyone, not just us blokes,'' Waverley Council lifeguard Trent ''Maxi'' Maxwell, 21, said. ''A female would have to be prepared to be in the minority with 36 males currently employed.''
An eastern suburbs resident with strong connections to the beach community says the council's paid lifeguard service - distinct from the volunteer surf lifesavers, who wear red and yellow - is run as a ''boys club''.
''It's pure and simple - misogyny is the only reason there's no women being paid to patrol the beaches,'' said the male resident, who wished to remain anonymous. ''Bondi Rescue is to blame in part; it has turned the boys who are meant to keep our beaches safe into celebrities, and they're not making way for any girls.''
Bondi surf instructor Aiden Cashin said the lifeguard culture was definitely male-dominated and therefore could be more intimidating for women.
''But I don't think that's on purpose,'' Cashin said. ''In Avoca [Beach], there are plenty of female lifeguards. It's just a different culture in the east.''
Waverley Council denies there is any discrimination on the basis of gender in its lifeguard service.
''Although we do not currently have female lifeguards at Bondi Beach, we have had female lifeguards in the past,'' a council spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman did not know when a woman last applied for a job as a lifeguard, saying applicant records are kept for only six months. But she said the council was ''committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity'' and ''a non-discriminatory work environment''.
''This includes the equal employment of female lifeguards where they meet the stated criteria and pass the required pool swim and beach course tests,'' the spokeswoman said.
Surf Life Saving NSW spokeswoman Donna Wishart said the Australian Lifeguard Service had a number of female lifeguards employed throughout the state. ''Our NSW lifeguard of the year in 2009 was a female, Kayla Laverty from Byron Shire Council,'' she said.
Mr Maxwell believes there is no discrimination against women and that it is more a lack of interest in the work. He said since he started as a trainee in 2006, he wasn't aware of any women applying for a job. ''[Women] have equal rights and opportunities to become lifeguards,'' he said.
A former Waverley Council lifeguard, Lawrie Williams, says he's surprised there are no women paid to patrol Bondi. ''I'm not sure whether it's one of those things where [women] see lifeguarding as an all boys occupation. But it isn't,'' he said.
Williams, who was a lifeguard for 20 years, worked with the first two appointed female Waverley Council lifeguards in the 1990s.
He hopes women will again apply for lifeguard jobs at Bondi.
