Home - SSAA Victoria

Here to help you

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 40,000 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.

Become a member Current member

SSAA Victoria News

Animals Australia virtue signalling is bad for animals, bad for workers, but good for the bottom line

Adidas’ decision to capitulate to the animal rights lobby and abandon using sustainably sourced Kangaroo leather will not save a single Kangaroo from being shot. It will ensure that more Kangaroos are shot to waste and with less oversight. The cherry on top of this hollow virtue signalling is that Animals Australia and their ilk are now actively promoting a company that has been found by a court in Germany to engage in ‘greenwashing’ and that Oxfam Australia says subjects its workers to “poverty wages and harsh sweatshop-like conditions”. Australia’s animal rights umbrella group, Animals Australia, is claiming a reported decision by Adidas to cease using Kangaroo leather as a victory that “will spare many thousands of gentle kangaroos and their joeys from being shot or clubbed to death each year”. This statement from Animals Australia is, at best, hopelessly naïve and misinformed – at worst (and frankly, more probably) it is deliberately and grossly misleading. The facts about the Australian Kangaroo industry are markedly different from the animal rights lobby's spin. In an article in The Conversation, Professor George Wilson and Dr John Read, experts with a combined eighty years of experience in Kangaroo management, outlined the real situation;

The commercial kangaroo industry employs accredited, licensed shooters who kill kangaroos in the field at night using high-powered spotlights and rifles. A national code of practice requires that kangaroos are shot in the head and die immediately.

Abattoirs reject carcasses not killed with a headshot. Commercial shooters must not target females with obvious young in their pouch or at foot. If a mother is shot, the joeys must also be killed using sanctioned methods.

The alternative that Animals Australia is championing does not see less Kangaroos killed, it will see more Kangaroos starve to death.

Overabundance can also affect the welfare of the animals themselves. During the recent drought, for example, millions of kangaroos starved and breeding was suppressed, causing kangaroo numbers to fall markedly.

In the absence of commercial opportunities, it is logical that Kangaroos will be killed more cheaply, without the higher standards required by commercial processors and with effectively no oversight.

When kangaroo kills are brought in for processing, regulators can monitor the industry’s compliance with welfare codes. Such monitoring is nonexistent with amateur culling.

We believe a further decline in the kangaroo industry ... will lead to worse animal welfare outcomes. It will prompt more amateur culling, and risks mass kangaroo starvation in the next drought.

That is not to say that farmers managing Kangaroos outside of the commercial industry do not act conscientiously or have concerns about animal welfare, the overwhelming majority clearly do. The cheerleading of Animals Australia for Adidas because more Kangaroos will now be shot to waste rather than be sustainably used stands as an example of the twisted ideology of the animal rights movement. Oxfam Australia reports that;

Thousands of workers endure poverty wages and harsh sweatshop-like conditions to make adidas their coveted sports shoes.

This year alone, Courts in France and Germany have found that Adidas is guilty of deceptive advertising about its environmental credentials, a practice known as ‘greenwashing’. When it comes to hollow virtue signalling, it would seem that Adidas has found the ideal partner in Animals Australia.

A better way for wildlife management in Australia - SSAA Victoria Podcast with Neal Finch

https://youtu.be/0MJucIQFOP4 Neal Finch is an Environmental Scientist and a lifelong hunter with a long and rich association with the SSAA. Neal has hands-on experience in hunter-centred wildlife research and worked for the Queensland Government for many years on its commercial kangaroo management program. He is currently the Executive Officer of the Australian Wild Game Industry Council. In 2024, Neal travelled to Europe on a Churchill Fellowship to explore the wild game harvesting industry in Europe, specifically how it is regulated and the relationship between animal welfare organisations and the wild game industry. For more information on the Churchill Fellowship, go to www.churchilltrust.com.au/fellow/neal-finch-qld-2024/ Watch on YouTube or listen on your favourite Podcasting App or on the player below

SSAA Victoria takes aim at the Herald Sun: Border gun busts aren’t about legal gun owners

The Herald Sun’s coverage of Australian Border Force (ABF) seizing more than 4,000 firearms and parts (“Australian Border Force seize more than 4000 guns amid calls for new gun ownership ban”) is a textbook example of lazy journalism being exploited by anti-gun lobbyists to push an agenda that has nothing to do with facts — and even less to do with public safety. Let’s be clear: guns seized at the border are not the guns of licensed firearm owners. They are the result of illegal importation, criminal enterprise, and loopholes in freight and customs controls. The law-abiding, highly regulated sporting shooters of Victoria are not — and have never been — the problem. “Nobody is more concerned with firearm safety than licensed firearm owners,” said Barry Howlett, Communications Manager for SSAA Victoria. “We are the ones who complete mandatory safety training, undergo background checks, store firearms under strict requirements, and engage proactively with police and government agencies.” Instead of coming to subject matter experts for comment, the Herald-Sun went to the Australian Gun Safety Alliance, a misleadingly named lobby group that is little more than an astroturf extension of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. News Corporation, the parent company of the Herald Sun, has formally partnered with the Alannah & Madeline Foundation for various campaigns, fundraising efforts, and public awareness drives and the Herald Sun has historically promoted the Foundation’s agenda without critical analysis, often echoing its calls for tighter gun laws or portraying its positions as neutral public safety campaigns rather than advocacy. While the Herald Sun claims editorial independence, its longstanding partnership and alignment with the Alannah & Madeline Foundation’s anti-gun positions often blur the line between journalism and advocacy. For those involved in public policy debates — especially around firearms — this nexus warrants critical scrutiny. The public deserves transparency about who is shaping the narrative, and why. SSAA Victoria is the state’s premier shooting organisation and Victoria’s largest provider of firearm safety training — for recreational, occupational, and government users alike. If the Australian Gun Safety Alliance truly cared about safety, they would start by understanding the difference between law-abiding ownership and criminal trafficking. And their credibility takes a further hit when they can’t even tell the difference between knives and firearms. If you’re going to campaign on safety, get the basic facts right. Anything less is irresponsible. The Alliance’s call to set arbitrary limits on the number of guns a person can own — a move that mirrors the shambolic and deeply unpopular laws recently introduced in Western Australia — is not only bad policy but bad for community safety. Those WA laws are now under review by the Parliament there because they’re widely seen as overreach and have alienated the very communities they were supposed to engage. “Reactionary scaremongering is not in the best interests of the community,” Mr Howlett said. “Jumping on the bandwagon of flawed legislation, chasing headlines, and demonising the most law-abiding cohort in Australia will do nothing to reduce firearm crime.” Licensed shooters are subject to some of the most rigorous regulatory oversight of any group in the country. Setting arbitrary limits on legally owned private property, while ignoring the reality of illegal imports and organised crime, is a political distraction — not a safety solution. If Mr Bendle and others in the anti-gun lobby are truly interested in safety, they would take a more honest, informed, and balanced approach — instead of engaging in silly sloganeering and politicised panic. There is a big difference between regulating criminals and punishing responsible citizens. Australia deserves better than clickbait and confusion masquerading as policy debate.

Hunters for the Hungry: A win-win for Victoria

Imagine if Victoria’s wild game harvest – currently underused and often wasted – could be transformed into thousands of healthy meals for vulnerable families. That’s the power and promise of a "Hunters for the Hungry" program – a simple, practical idea with big social, environmental and political upside. The concept is already working around the world, including just across the ditch. In New Zealand, charitable game meat programs are feeding communities with clean, sustainable venison from wild deer. In 2023 alone, over 7 tonnes of venison were donated to food charities. That’s real meat on real plates – not political fluff, action with impact. Why Victoria? Victoria is home to a robust population of wild deer, and recreational hunters – supported by ethical, safety-focused groups like SSAA Victoria – are already on the frontlines of game management. Every year, hundreds of thousands of animals are ethically harvested by recreational hunters. But, thousands more are shot to waste in government funded culling programs. That’s a missed opportunity in a state where food insecurity affects 1 in 6 households. SSAA Victoria has been pushing for a homegrown version of “Hunters for the Hungry,” and support is growing. In 2023 and 2024, the Association hosted a Game Meat BBQ in the Victorian Parliament, serving ethically harvested venison to MPs and decision-makers. It wasn’t just a lunch – it was a statement: we have the people and the community will to make this happen. All we need is the political green light. The Triple Bottom Line: People, Planet, Purpose This isn’t just about food. It’s about triple-bottom-line benefits:

Social: Nutritious game meat goes to food banks and charities. Think meals for shelters, soup kitchens, and struggling families.
Environmental: Culled deer, instead of being left to rot and feed wild dogs, would be removed from the environment.
Economic: A coordinated program supports regional jobs in meat processing, logistics, and compliance, while also showcasing hunting as a responsible, community-oriented activity.

What’s the Hold-Up? Despite bipartisan interest, Victoria still lacks the legal and regulatory framework to allow hunter-donated game meat into the food system and the government support for a modest pilot program to prove the concept. Bureaucratic red tape, outdated game meat rules, and cultural squeamishness about hunting have kept the idea on ice. But that’s changing. The success in New Zealand shows the model works – and that it can be adapted safely. SSAA Victoria’s advocacy has laid the groundwork. Now it’s up to lawmakers to catch up with the community. A Program with Momentum Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MP Jeff Bourman has already taken the idea to Parliament, tabling a motion in support of a Hunters for the Hungry program in Victoria. The message is clear: we can do so much better with Victoria’s wild game resource than simply spending taxpayer dollars to have it shot to waste. The public gets it. So do many in politics. All that’s needed now is a push from decision-makers to cut through red tape and deliver something that’s already proven, already supported, and urgently needed. Time to Act Victoria prides itself on innovation, sustainability, and fairness. “Hunters for the Hungry” ticks all three boxes. It doesn’t require massive government spending. It doesn’t need new technology. It just needs common sense and political will. Let’s not waste another winter – or another tonne of meat. Let’s follow the lead of New Zealand, listen to our own hunters, and make “Hunters for the Hungry” a reality in Victoria.

More News