THE GREAT OUTDOORS TASKFORCE AND THE EMINENT PANEL FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The Great Outdoors Taskforce (GOT) was established in April, 2024, to advise the Victorian Government on the future management of 1.5 million hectares of former timber harvest areas and adjacent state forests in Gippsland and North East Victoria. While the Eminent Panel for Community Engagement (EPCE) commenced in 2021, it investigated land classification of state forests in the Central Highlands and permissible uses in those areas.

A broad array of public land user groups held shared concerns about the EPCE report and the risk that it would be used as a vehicle for the creation of an expansive national park that would have varying degrees of impact on the recreational users. Regarding deer hunting, this would put an end to hunting with a dog and hound hunting in the park. At the same time, it would also create a battle to enable hunting by stalking in the park. Whereas under the current arrangements, as state forests, these all can occur for 365 days a year.

The GOT ran adjacent to the EPCE and focused on areas that had been impacted by the cessation of the native timber harvesting industry in the Victorian regions of Gippsland and North East Victoria.

The Australian Deer Association (ADA) worked closely with the GOT to ensure that it would not be used as a vehicle to change public land tenure, as this was a real risk that would have an enormous impact on recreational deer hunting as well as the broader bush user.

Thankfully, the GOT made this clear during its work that it would not be making large-scale recommendations to land tenure – this brought about a significant sigh of relief for many land users who had been concerned about what the future held for them in such areas.

While the EPCE did make recommendations to significantly expand the Yarra Ranges and Mount Baw Baw National Parks, the government did not accept this recommendation.

It did, however, commit to expanding the Yarra Ranges National Park to include the Yarra Tributaries Forest Reserve, a protected water catchment, which was already closed to the public and would have no impact on public land use or recreation.

As part of the government's response, it has committed to spend $30 million acting on advice received from the GOT and the EPCE, which will include improving long-term maintenance of existing visitor campgrounds, toilets, tracks, trails and other visitor infrastructure in state forests as well as upgrades to campsites such as Cheynes Bridge in Heyfield and the Buckland Valley Visitor area.

What is also most pleasing for recreational hunters is the public acknowledgement by the Premier of Victoria of our way of life. In her media release, the Premier stated, “ Our forests remain open to every single Victorian and visitor alike – to enjoy hunting, fishing, camping, bushwalking and all the benefits of the bush.”

This is the first time in living memory that a Premier has acknowledged recreational hunting in such a prominent manner. For decades, our industry has often been at best neglected or forgotten about, while its cousin, fishing, has done incredibly well. There is now a real opportunity to bring about sustainable change and elevate hunting to the same level as recreational fishing and promote it similarly.

As part of the government’s response, they also committed to delivering a “ marketing campaign to promote the exceptional recreational opportunities in our state forests”. The ADA will advocate strongly with the government to have this include recreational deer hunting.

This is a landmark moment in time to develop sustainable policy that further bolsters and celebrates recreational deer hunting for the regional and economic powerhouse that it is, while delivering benefits to hunters, society, and the environment.

With your ongoing support, the ADA will continue its advocacy for the sound management of wild deer and ensure recreational hunting is sustainable, respected, and valued by the wider community and future generations.