The findings of a damning new report into the hospital's training programs include sexual harassment and propositioning in the workplace, items being thrown at staff, belittling of complainants, public humiliation and abusive phone calls, text messages and emails.

The report by consultants KPMG found 76 per cent of respondents observed bullying, discrimination and harassment, with complaints unlikely to be resolved in timely or effective ways. Some reports had no consequences while others resulted in breaches of confidentiality. Discriminatory practices against women were found.

Health Minister Simon Corbell said the government would implement all seven recommendations from the report and would establish a new leadership group to overhaul a toxic culture. He said similar problems existed in hospitals around Australia.

"You cannot continue to display these behaviours and expect that's OK because you're a good doctor," Mr Corbell said. "It's not OK and it has to change."

The report found staff feared complaining about misconduct would "rock the boat" and lead to retribution and a poor performance rating in competitive training environments. Some trainees were not willing to "take the gamble" complaining in case their contract was not renewed. Future employment was also a concern.

ACT Health Director-General Nicole Feely said she expected the planned changes would trigger relief among junior doctors.

"There are areas where we do need to draw a line in the sand and say we no longer allow ourselves to walk past poor behaviours," she said.

The report said a culture of "shaming" existed and management provided "positive reinforcement for aspiring bullies". Trainees were subject to inappropriate language and sarcastic feedback, and publicly blamed for others' problems. Some reported public threats of physical violence while senior doctors did not recognise legislative and regulatory requirements.

"In some parts of the organisation, an old guard exists who are self-centred and do not display empathy," the report said.

"Some [staff] commented that they had little confidence that the hospital was serious about eradicating the unacceptable culture.

"There appears to be a 'normalising' of inappropriate behaviour with subtle behaviours creeping into day-to-day practice."

Some staff said they believed senior doctors had faced bullying themselves and had an attitude of "we survived [and] you should be able to do the same".

More than 60 per cent said reporting strategies were not effective.

The report found concerns over employment conditions included rosters which did not comply with safe work standards, staff being expected to stay late despite not being on-call, and trainees being given less desirable tasks.

The report's recommendations call for more study of areas within the hospital which accept or condone bullying and harassment; new statements of culture and communication campaigns; and revised recruitment processes.

Policy statements will be strengthened to commit to consequences and exactly what bullying and harassment is should be clarified.

Mr Corbell said staff specialists could face disciplinary action through provisions of the Public Sector Management Act and industrial awards but action against visiting medical officers was more complicated.

The report was originally expected to be released in July.

It was prompted by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons' withdrawal of the hospital's training accreditation for urology services in June. Canberra Hospital's maternity unit received this year the shortest possible accreditation period for its own training programs, after an audit found ongoing cultural and bullying issues.

Australian Medical Association ACT president Elizabeth Gallagher said the results were not surprising given earlier nationwide studies.

"Some of what is being said in this report has already been identified and we need to start seeing some action and some results," she said.

"Clearly it needs to be fixed and clearly there should be zero tolerance for these behaviours."

Australian National University Medical Students' Society president Chris Wilder said bullying and mistreatment was reported by many of his fellow students.

"We welcome anything that can bring these behaviours into the light and then develop steps to address them," he said.

"Certainly we hear reports of it from students and it's something that is on the mind of many when they begin their placements."

Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson said there had been years of failure.

"I fear we are again seeing the pattern of no one being found accountable and the minister giving assurances that problems are being addressed while nothing actually improves for frontline staff," he said