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The Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (Victoria) was incorporated as a public company on October 1, 1973. We exist to promote the shooting sports and protect firearm owners' interests.

With more than 36,000 members, SSAA Victoria is a leading body representing licensed firearm owners in Victoria. SSAA Victoria has more than a dozen branches and more than 30 sub-clubs and disciplines within the organisation.

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SSAA Victoria News

Hunter maps welcomed

New electronic hunting maps have finally been officially released after consultation with hunting organisations including SSAA Victoria. The new maps are an overlay for Victoria’s already popular More To Explore phone app, which is currently used by more than 20,000 people to navigate 3.9 million hectares of public land. The app is Victoria’s first comprehensive electronic mapping system showing all public land available for hunters, as well as which species of both game animals and pests can be hunted in specific areas – with the maps also available for download to use offline or out of mobile range. “One of the issues for hunters, especially the many new people who we see coming to hunting in Victoria, is knowing exactly where they can go,” said SSAA Victoria Hunting Development Manager David Laird. “We worked with the Department through its Sustainable Hunting Action Plan to provide input into how the maps could work and we reckon they’ve come up OK. “They are not perfect and we know there are some issues with private property and grazing lease areas. We encourage our members to let us know if they spot an issue by contacting me at the State Office (hunting@ssaavic.com.au) “But we do congratulate the Minister for Agriculture for showing her support for hunting in Victoria by announcing the maps.” The app is regularly updated to reflect changes in land status and show road closures and also features an emergency location function for public land users’ safety. The new electronic hunting maps are a key initiative under the Labor Government’s $5.3 million Sustainable Hunting Action Plan, which was adopted to support the game hunting industry's long-term growth. “The new maps are part of our commitment to make sure hunting is conducted in a safe, responsible and sustainable way right across the state,” said Minister for Agriculture Jaclyn Symes. “The app will be a great tool to help hunters stay informed about their favourite hunting locations or explore new ones.” In January, the Government provided $6 million to the Game Management Authority to boost its compliance and enforcement capabilities and improve communication and education about legal hunting in Victoria. More To Explore is available from the iOS App Store and the Google Play store. For more information, visit the GMA website.

Updated LRD Change of Details form

Victoria Police’s Licensing and Regulation Division (LRD) has amended its VP1395 form (Change of Details) for firearms licence holders. The form will be required to be completed when requesting a change of:

Name
Residential, business and/or storage address
Personal details (date of birth, phone number, email)

Licence holders will be required to send this form along with any other supporting documents, to LRD via post or email as per usual. LRD said it has made the change to help get applications through faster by streamlining the process. A licence holder must continue to notify LRD via email (licensingregulation@police.vic.gov.au) when they want to change their licence category or upgrade/downgrade their licence during the term of their licence.

Hunting charges dropped in airboat case

Two charges of hunting from a boat laid against a duck hunter by the Game Management Authority have been dropped in the Geelong Magistrates Court. The charges were laid after a video was taken of the man and another hunter using an airboat during duck season on Cundare Pool, near Lake Corangamite, west of Geelong. The GMA then charged the hunter with hunting from a boat, assisting hunting from a boat, disturbing wildlife and not wearing a life vest. The two hunting charges were dropped and the hunter was fined $5000 after pleading guilty to the remaining charges. No conviction was recorded and the boat which had been impounded after the charges were laid was also returned to the hunter. SSAA Victoria Hunting Development Manager David Laird said he hoped the protestors who illegally invade the wetlands during duck season were pursued with the same level of vigour. “We have seen extremists on the water deliberately alarm wildlife with sirens, whistles and flags,” he said. “They do this with the express purpose of scaring native birds in direct contravention of the regulations. “As has been demonstrated by this case, disturbing wildlife can result in a heavy fine so we are calling on the authorities to bring some of these wilful law-breakers to account. “We also call on the courts to be just as heavy-handed with them as they have been with a hunter wanting to put food on his family table.” Mr Laird said the matter also highlighted the need to be vigilant against falling victim to the radical element bent on taking away the freedoms of hunters in Victoria. “We encourage duck hunters to video all interactions with the extremist bigots who want to disrupt their lawful pursuit,” he said. “We have witnessed gross exaggeration and outright lies being levelled against hunters which can lead to false accusations, so using video to record encounters can help safeguard against it.”

Farmer Assist gets boost in Parliament

The Nationals Upper House MP Melina Bath called on the Government to better promote SSAA’s Farmer Assist program last week. The Member for Eastern Victoria brought the matter to the attention of Parliament (Page 118 on the Hansard document) following a meeting of SSAA Victoria representatives and The Nationals members in which several issues concerning the Association were raised. “We have a laundry list of matters we are bringing to the attention of MPs and government agencies to get a better outcome for our members,” said SSAA Victoria Communications Manager Justin Law. “Farmer Assist is among them and it was gratifying that on the same day as our meeting with The Nationals, it was brought up as a positive program designed to help farmers control pests and give our members the opportunity to provide a valuable service. “Engaging farmers to participate in the program has been a challenge so it’s great that a political party representing rural Victorians has thrown their weight behind it.” In calling on the Agriculture Minister to help promote the program, Ms Bath pointed out that Farmer Assist was well regulated with participants required to meet a high standard of competency which is assessed by SSAA Victoria’s Training and Education team. “The Farmer Assist program has been going for a little over two years, but the SSAA would like it to gain more traction to benefit the farming community,” she told the Legislative Council. “Standard operating procedures ensure that all of the highly trained members of the SSAA take the highest level of animal welfare into consideration when controlling pests. “Landholders have total control over who comes onto their property, and the key thing which I learned today is that the program is very much about the creation of a relationship between the landholder and the SSAA member.” Other issues raised at the meeting earlier in the day included the introduction of a Waterfowl Conservation Harvest Model to create a scientific approach to determining Duck Season conditions, the VEAC proposal to lock up land in National Parks in the State’s west, and the continuation of the Conservation and Pest Management program. “We raised 11 issues in total including securing land for a centrefire gun range in Melbourne’s east, deer management and even getting Gifkins Road leading to our Eagle Park Range sealed,” Mr Law said. “It was part of an ongoing advocacy program which involves regular meetings with politicians and government agencies to ensure our members are represented on issues which concern us.” Photo caption: At The Nationals breakfast meeting with SSAA Victoria last week were (from left) Tim McCurdy MP, Melina Bath MLC, SSAA Victoria Communications Manager Justin Law, SSAA Victoria Hunting Development Manager David Laird and Danny O'Brien MP.

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