Updated 8 September 2023
In early July 2023, stakeholders in game hunting received a proforma email telling us that the remaking of Victoria’s Wildlife (Game) Regulations would be delayed by a further twelve months.
The email states:
We are writing to advise you that the Wildlife (Game) Regulations 2012 (Game Regulations) sunset on 10 September 2023.
As you would be aware, on 24 February 2023 a Select Committee was announced to inquire into Victoria’s Recreational Native Bird Hunting Arrangements. Additionally, the Wildlife Act 1975 is currently subject to a comprehensive review.
It is important for the review of the Game Regulations to consider both the Victorian Government response to the findings of the Select Committee’s inquiry and to the review of the Wildlife Act.
As a result, the Victorian Government is therefore proposing to create Interim Game Regulations for recreational game hunting for 12 months. The Interim Game Regulations will maintain the existing regulatory settings without any policy changes.
Once the Government’s responses to both the Select Committee and the review of the Wildlife Act are released, proposed Regulations will be developed, and a Regulatory Impact Statement will be released for consultation at that time.
Regulations are what is known as “subordinate” or “secondary” legislation and sit underneath “primary legislation” (Acts of Parliament). Acts are generally drafted in more general terms, outlining the policy and principles. Regulations, then get into the specifics (fill in the gaps).
In 2020, the Victorian Government appointed an independent, expert panel to advise on the review of the Wildlife Act, with a reporting date of August 2021. By the time that panel did report in December 2021, it had shrunk from four members to three, and only one of the members who started the process and engaged in stakeholder engagement remained. It is fair to say that the process of reviewing the Wildlife Act has been flawed, opaque, painfully slow and subject to some level of interference.
The upside for hunters in the delay in remaking the Wildlife (Game) Regulations is that the status quo remains…for now. There are risks, however. The remaining panel member for the Wildlife Act review has a clear, stated bias against wild deer as a game animal. The Select Committee into Native Bird Hunting, based on all of the evidence it has received, could only logically have concluded that native bird hunting is sustainable and valuable and should continue (perhaps with some administrative changes), as we now know, that is not what their final report says.
SSAA Victoria invests more time, effort and money into advocating for shooting and hunting in Victoria than any other group. The Association continues to engage with MPs, bureaucrats and other leaders in our community to push for the best possible results for Victoria’s quarter of a million recreational shooters.
The extension to the Game Regulations was formally gazetted by the Government on Tuesday 5 September 2023. You can view the notice HERE.
