A series of former female staff members have accused the Burke's Backyard presenter of sexually inappropriate behaviour including lewd comments and groping.

A spokesman for Nine Network Australia, which ran his show until it was axed in 2004, said Burke was not going to be on air next year and denied there were plans to bring him back.

"We were not in discussions with him, he has done some occasional segments on [A Current Affair] around gardening, most recently for spring in September, but he is not going to be on air in 2018," the spokesman said.

Nine said they had robust policies and procedures in place "for some time" dealing with complaints and to support staff.

"The current management of Nine cannot comment on how these sorts of matters may have been dealt with in the past, these allegations are serious and would not be tolerated at Nine today."

The agency Celebrity Speakers took down its online profile for Burke on Monday. The agency did not respond to a request for comment.

"These untrue claims will also destroy my income for the rest of my life," Burke said in a statement to Fairfax Media. "Already these mischievous claims have led to some thousands of dollars of cancellations of appearances."

Burke has denied all the allegations against him "absolutely" and said some came from people who "still bear a strong grudge against me".

A long-time presenter on Burke's Backyard, Jackie French, said the program had been an "island of integrity" in an industry rife with sexual predation.

French told Fairfax Media that over nine years of working closely with Burke she had never seen seen him flirt or tell a sexual joke, nor had she heard any suggestion of sexual impropriety.

"I think it would be impossible for anything to happen without any gossip," she said.

French, an author, described Burke as a "workaholic" perfectionist who had bucked Nine's wishes by hiring older professional women rather than "dollybirds".

The allegations were "incredibly distressing" for Burke and his wife Marea, French said.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Burke's alleged behaviour was "sickening" and showed Australia had its own versions of Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood producer recently accused of extensive sexual misconduct.

"To the victims of this sexual harassment, coming forward cannot have been easy, so they are to be congratulated," Mr Shorten said on radio on Monday morning.

"If it turns out that within the media industry people were happy to accept the dollars and the ratings and turn a blind eye to the completely wrong and horrendous practices, well that's to the shame of the industry."

Burke was replaced as a member of the Science Advisory Council of the University of NSW earlier this month. The university said the new science faculty dean had wanted more diversity and Burke was told on November 17 he would no longer have a role.

"We are not aware of any inappropriate behaviour by Mr Burke during his time on the council," a university spokeswoman said.

A swath of partner and client companies listed on the Burke's Backyard CTC Productions website have distanced themselves from the former TV gardener, including RAMS, Foxtel and Unilever.

A RAMS spokeswoman said the company had not had a relationship with CTC Productions or Burke for five years.

And a Unilever Australia spokeswoman said the company was "surprised" to see itself listed on the CTC Productions website as "we no longer have any association with Don Burke or his company".

"Like many brands, we advertised with Burke's Backyard more than 14 years ago and were not aware of any sexual harassment allegations at this time," she said.

"We are deeply disturbed to hear of these allegations and we actively stand against any form of harassment towards women or men. We have no plans to utilise CTC's production services in the future."

Both Bauer Media and Foxtel, also listed on the website, declined to comment - but it is understood neither company had dealt with CTC Productions for many years.

Air-conditioning company ActronAir was also included on the website list, and a spokesman for the company said it was "shocked to learn of the accusations levelled against Don Burke for his reported behaviour".

"The conduct he stands accused of flies in the face of everything we believe in, and we are extremely disappointed to be associated with his conduct in any way," he said.

He said it had used CTC Productions as a supplier of video production services for two projects - the production of an internal video in 2014 to celebrate a company anniversary and in 2015 for testimonial videos.

"We have not required their services for any projects since that time and as such have had no further contact with them," the spokesman said.

"We never had any engagement with Don Burke for any of these projects, and his involvement with the company was not a factor in our engaging them - in fact, we didn't know of his involvement when we initially engaged them.

"In light of this reported horrible conduct, we have no plans on using their services again."

Burke has said the allegations against him would also "destroy my ability to perform my extensive charity work".

Asbestos Awareness, for which he is an ambassador, declined to comment. Another cause, Retina Australia NSW, could not be reached.

The Governor-General's office declined to comment on whether Burke's Medal of the Order of Australia may be cancelled in light of the allegations.TV Week magazine, which runs the Logie Awards, did not respond by deadline.