AN Australian police radio operator has been sacked after he was accused of ignoring the report of a woman's scream the night York backpacker Caroline Stuttle was killed.

Police Minister Tony McGrady said the man was dismissed following an internal investigation by the Police Ethical Standards Command.

The investigation followed reports that an unidentified woman had phoned police only a few minutes after Miss Stuttle, 19, from York, disappeared in the Queensland state town of Bundaberg, on April 10, last year.

The radio operator who took the call allegedly did not pass on the information to police.

The caller also reportedly said she had seen the shadowy figure of a man looking over the railing of a bridge in Bundaberg about the time Miss Stuttle was believed to have fallen or been pushed to her death from the bridge.

Mr McGrady said: "He has the opportunity to appeal against the decision, but he has been dismissed and his services are no longer required by the Queensland Police Service."

No one has been arrested in connection with Ms Stuttle's death.