The Country Fire Authority commissioned a secret report that recommends thwarting the union presence in the organisation, abolishing its influence over decisions and hiring firefighters on non-union individual contacts.

The leaked report, obtained by Fairfax Media, was commissioned by the CFA to "review its existing workplace relations arrangements" and to reset its relationship with the United Firefighters Union.

The CFA dispute has dogged the Andrews government Credit:Jessica Shapiro

The CFA had been locked in a bitter workplace dispute with the militant firefighters' union since 2013, with management resisting union claims, which firefighters said would enhance community and staff safety.

The report, marked "strictly confidential" and legally privileged, was prepared in March this year by Seyfarth Shaw Australia, the law firm that was also used by the former Coalition state government to press recommendations to the royal commission into union corruption.