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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 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.

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SSAA Victoria News

SSAA Victoria Podcast Episode 6 - SSAA National CEO Tom Kenyon

After a career that included a long and successful stint in politics, Tom Kenyon took the helm at SSAA National in 2024. We sat down with Tom while he was in Melbourne to discuss changes at SSAA, Australian Shooter magazine, plans to grow the organisation and the political situation facing shooting across Australia. You can watch the podcast on the SSAA Victoria YouTube channel: You can listen to the podcast on your favourite podcasting app or via the player below:

Move to Adaptive Harvest Management delivers sustainable duck season and great hunting opportunities

The Victorian Government has announced that the bag limit for the 2025 duck season will be nine birds. As a part of its commitment to moving forward with sustainable duck hunting, the Victorian Government committed to using Adaptive Harvest Management (AHM) to inform seasonal arrangements starting in 2025. After over a decade of advocacy, discussion, and development, SSAA Victoria is delighted that this critical duck season decision is based on objective science, putting sustainability at the forefront while still delivering ample hunting opportunities. We thank the Government for delivering on this important commitment. The Association is also pleased that the Government has committed to maintaining the season dates and length as spelled out in the regulations for the next three years. This will give certainty to workers and families when planning their leave. SSAA Victoria has consistently argued that the AHM science should be completed and published by late December. The report should serve as the ‘announcement’ of the bag limit, taking the politics out of that part of the process. Those entering duck hunting in 2025 should start familiarising themselves with the material in the Waterfowl Identification Test (WIT). SSAA Victoria has several WIT training sessions scheduled at Springvale and Eagle Park in February, and the actual test can be completed via the Game Management Authority (GMA) website from this weekend. The GMA website also has excellent educational videos and a practice test. Hunters (new and experienced) should also take the five weeks left before duck hunting as an opportunity to brush up on their shooting skills. SSAA Victoria has five-stand shotgun shooting available for the public at Eagle Park and monthly 100-target sporting clay shoots with our affiliate ACSSA. Some regional SSAA Victoria ranges also offer regular shotgun shooting opportunities.

Questions and answers

What are the season dates?
- The 2025 duck season will open on Wednesday, 19 March 2025 and close on Monday, 9 June 2025.
What is the bag limit?
- The 2025 daily bag limit is nine ducks, and seven duck game species can be hunted.
Is the bag limit sustainable?
- Yes. The Government has adopted a Game Duck Harvest strategy that is based on expert, independent research specifically aimed at ensuring sustainable duck seasons. The research indicates that a harvest of 20% of the modelled population would be sustainable. The Government has taken a precautionary approach, consistent with the science, to set a harvest target at 10% of the modelled population for the first few years of Adaptive Harvest Management (SSAA Victoria argued for that target to be 15%). Anti-hunting groups, citing the Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey (EAWS) are pushing a narrative that hunting is not sustainable. The anti-hunters' narrative either ignores or is ignorant of the fact that EAWS is a broad, national snapshot whilst the science relied on by the Victorian Government is markedly more granular, targeted and fit-for-purpose for setting annual game duck bag limits.
What are the start times?
- The start time is 8:00am for the first five days of the season, after which hunting can start 30 minutes before sunrise.
Can I hunt Hardhead?
- Yes. Last year, in response to work led by SSAA Victoria, Hardhead were removed from the threatened species list and are available as a game species in 2025.
Can I hunt Blue Winged Shoveler?
- No. The blue-winged shoveler cannot be hunted this season
How do I get a licence?
- Waterfowl Identification Tests (WIT) can now be sat online via the Game Management Authority website. SSAA Victoria is offering training sessions for new duck hunters to help them to successfully pass their WIT.
Do I need to complete extra testing?
- From this season, all new hunters seeking a license are required to do mandatory online knowledge training and testing – including Aboriginal cultural awareness training – as part of the Waterfowl Wounding Reduction Action Plan. All hunters renewing their licence from 2026 will also be required to complete this training.
Has the Government ignored the recommendations from its own inquiry?
- No. The Select Committee into Native Bird Hunting made eight recommendations to the Government and the Government supported seven of them. The reality is that the recommendations were contradictory to the point where the Government could either adopt one of them and ignore the other seven, or, adopt seven and ignore just one.
What about quail?
- Open season: the season opens on the first Saturday of April and closes on the last day of June, each year. Hunting is permitted from 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset throughout the season.
- Bag limit: maximum 20 birds per day.
- Hunting Methods: shotgun only, not exceeding 12 gauge. Lead shot is prohibited for all game bird hunting, including for Stubble Quail. Hunters are required to use non-toxic shot only. Non-toxic shot options are listed in Schedule 6 of the Wildlife (Game) Regulations 2024.
- The use of electronic quail callers is not permitted.

Potential wetland closures for duck hunters to be aware of

With the duck season only two weeks away, warm conditions are seeing several wetlands contracting and the potential for significant congregations of game ducks (and other species) on remaining wetlands. With a full-length season and a nine-bird bag limit, hunters will have plenty of opportunity to harvest a good feed of birds over the season. Take the opportunity to enjoy the hunting experience, take your time, be selective and put into practice the basic steps to REDUCE Wounding.

Duck hunters are advised that the hunting locations listed below are being considered for further management action, including closures, for the commencement of the 2025 season, with stated reason(s):

Eastern Victoria
Location	Species	Trigger Point	Management Issue	History (years closed)
Dowd Morass State Game Reserve	Pied Cormorant	Breeding event	Disturbance	2022
Western Victoria
Location	Species	Trigger Point	Management Issue	History (years closed)
Tower Hill State Game Reserve (SGR)	Australasian (Blue-winged) Shoveler	108	Disturbance/Mistakenly shot	2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024
	Blue-billed Duck	100	Disturbance
Lake Wongan State Game Reserve (SGR)	Australasian (Blue-winged) Shoveler	108	Disturbance/Mistakenly shot	2024
	Brolga	10	Disturbance
Hospital Swamp (Lake Connewarre State Game Reserve (SGR))	Australasian (Blue-winged) Shoveler	108	Disturbance/Mistakenly shot	2014, 2019
Lake Connewarre (Lake Connewarre State Game Reserve (SGR))	Orange-bellied Parrot (OBP)	1	Disturbance	2022, 2024
Lake Elingamite	Australasian (Blue-winged) Shoveler	108	Disturbance/Mistakenly shot	2023
	Blue-billed Duck	100	Disturbance
	Musk Duck	137	Disturbance
Lake Struan	Blue-billed Duck	50	Disturbance
Lake Lonsdale	Freckled Duck	20	Disturbance/Mistakenly shot	2018, 2019, 2020, 2024
	Australasian (Blue-winged) Shoveler	108	Disturbance/Mistakenly shot
Lake Weering Lake Reserve	Brolga	10	Disturbance
Lake Muirhead State Game Reserve	Brolga	10	Disturbance	2017, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024
Northern Victoria
Location	Species	Trigger Point	Management Issue	History (years closed)
Great Spectacle Lake Complex	Australasian (Blue-winged) Shoveler	108	Disturbance/Mistakenly shot
State Game Reserve	Blue-billed Duck	100	Disturbance
Lake Cullen State Game Reserve	Australasian (Blue-winged) Shoveler	108	Disturbance/Mistakenly shot	2024
Lake Bael Bael (Koorangie State Game Reserve)	Australasian (Blue-winged) Shoveler	108	Disturbance/Mistakenly shot	2017, 2018, 2024
Lake Tutchewop	Curlew Sandpiper	180	Disturbance	2024
	Sharp-tailed Sandpiper		Disturbance
	Red-necked Stint		Disturbance

It is not expected that all these areas will be closed, however, if you plan on hunting at any of these locations, please check that they are open for hunting before arriving. This can be done through the GMA website.

If you are planning to hunt at any of these locations, it is strongly recommended that you factor in an alternate hunting destination and a backup plan.

Formal announcements are expected to be made on Friday, March 14, only five days before the season commences on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. Please note that other areas may also be added to the list.

SSAA Victoria fully understands the difficulties faced by hunters when closure decisions and announcements are made so late and has communicated those concerns to the responsible bodies. The Association continues to work with the government and other hunting stakeholders in attempts to improve the further management processes around duck hunting and the timing of announcements.

Hunters can play a big role in having wetlands re-opened by using the DEECA reporting page to report if the stated reason for the closure is no longer applicable.

Taking the spoils of the hunt to Spring Street – Game meat barbecue brings shooters and pollies together

Politicians and staffers from across the political spectrum came together to feast on wild-harvested venison, kangaroo and goat at the second annual “Hunters for the Hungry” barbecue on the rooftop terrace at Victoria’s Parliament House in mid-November. This event's purpose is twofold: in addition to promoting the “Hunters for the Hungry” initiative, it reinforces the connection between hunting and wild food, countering misconceptions that some might hold about hunters and hunting. Victoria’s peak food charity, Foodbank, reports that 140,000 people every month access support because they do not have enough to eat. More than 80% of food charities have stated they regularly do not have enough supply to meet demand, with protein (meat) being their biggest expense. At the same time, thousands of wild game animals are being shot to waste in control programs in Victoria, with tonnes of protein going unutilised. In New Zealand, the UK, the USA, Europe and Africa, programs allow hunters and cullers to donate premium wild shot game meat to food charities. It is not, by any means, a complete solution to food insecurity. Still, it is an important and meaningful opportunity that is being missed, and all it takes is some political will to address it. It is also important that our elected officials and the community at large understand that the sourcing and sharing of wild food is a critical part of the hunting experience for tens of thousands of Victorians. We must take every opportunity to tell that story, and there is no more practical way to do that than by sharing the harvest. SSAA Victoria would like to thank the MPs and staffers from across the political spectrum for supporting the barbecue, Jeff Bourman MP and his office for their support in organising and running the event, and Minister Steve Dimopoulos MP for his warm, welcoming speech.

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