Outdoor Recreation Victoria Bill passes Parliament

In another win for Australian hunters, the Victorian Parliament passed the Outdoor Recreation Victoria Bill.

Not only does this formally acknowledge hunting alongside other forms of outdoor recreation such as fishing, camping and four-wheel driving, but it is also an example of a state government choosing to formulate policy and legislation in collaboration with the firearm sector.

This has not been a common theme with recent firearm-related legislation changes, where hunters and shooters have been intentionally sidelined and treated either as a safety risk or as a group to be regulated.

As you would have read in our article in July, this proposal has recently seen concerns flagged in the media over its potential to promote shooting to children, along with criticism from the Alannah & Madeline Foundation and the Animal Justice Party.

Despite this opposition, SSAA Victoria was able to work productively with the Government, Opposition and crossbench members to provide practical subject-matter expertise and operational insight to discussions.

After the bill passed the upper house in June, with the proposed authority renamed ‘Fishing, Hunting and Outdoor Victoria’ instead of ‘Outdoor Recreation Victoria’, the SSAA Victoria team were able to sit in the public gallery on August 13 to watch the lower house give final approval for the bill to proceed to the Governor for royal assent.

The passage of this bill is a sensible reform, and the Victorian Government should be congratulated for seeing it through.

There are many benefits for hunters in the bill, including the consolidation of two authorities into a single hunting and fishing regulatory body. This means hunters will benefit from a clearer point of contact, better coordination across government and a stronger voice.

The new authority will also promote sustainable game hunting and help grow the significant social and economic benefits hunting delivers, particularly in regional Victoria.

Another benefit is the creation of a framework to promote and support access to public land, including through a Land Access Panel. For hunters, this will help address practical barriers that have previously existed, including unclear access arrangements, inconsistent information and red tape.

For hunters, the bill’s passage is significant because it recognises hunting as part of Victoria’s mainstream outdoor recreation landscape – an activity to be valued and hunters as a community to be supported.