The Victorian Government has introduced legislation to dismantle key institutions that protect habitats and wildlife, which will silence expert voices and strip away independent safeguards for nature. Two critical protection agencies will be gutted, with four other expert scientific and advisory committees under review and also at risk of being axed.
Leading nature advocates – Victorian National Parks Association, The Wilderness Society, Environmental Justice Australia, Victorian Protected Areas Council – are calling on the government to scrap the legislation and retain these vital bodies that have protected nature in Victoria for decades.
As part of a sweeping review of the Victorian public service, the Allan Government is gutting key nature institutions, including the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) and Victorian Marine and Coastal Council. For 50 years, VEAC have played a central role in protecting habitats and wildlife, shaping millions of hectares of national parks and protected areas across the state, including Grampians (Gariwerd), Alpine, Box –Ironbark, Redgum and marine national parks. Yet their entire council of experts will be slashed, stripped down to just one public servant, in the form of the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability.
These institutions provide independent, evidence-based advice that underpins how Victoria’s parks and habitats are planned for and protected. Cutting them will leave nature without the expert guidance and community input it desperately needs, making it easier for short-term political pressure to override long-term protection.
This blow to nature protection comes after massive cuts to nature staff across the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), Parks Victoria and Victorian Fisheries Authority in 2025.
Matt Ruchel, Victorian National Parks Association Executive Director said:
“The benefit of these institutions to nature in Victoria is immeasurable. Nature can’t afford these cuts. It’s setting up a recipe for short term decisions and thinking, when nature needs long-term care.”
“They need our support, now more than ever.”
The cuts strike at the heart of Victoria's nature protection framework and include:
The Victorian Environmental Assessment Council, who have protected millions of hectares of national parks and public land over the last 50 years. They will be abolished, with some of the functions transferred to a single public servant in Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability Office. This will remove independent, science-based and expert advice on how Victoria's public land should be protected and managed. Decisions about how to protect public land will be left to political whim.
The Victorian Marine and Coastal Council, the independent body providing expert advice on marine and coastal policy. They will be abolished entirely, leaving no dedicated voice to hold the government accountable on critical issues like coastal erosion, algal blooms, oil spills and climate impacts on Victoria's coasts.
Dr Geoff Wescott, spokesperson for the Victorian Protected Areas Council said:
“A new Marine and Coastal Strategy is due next year and the very body that has historically had carriage of this critical implementation report has just been removed. Its disappearance risks gutting the entire Marine and Coastal Act.”
“The government appears to be scared of independent expert advice and community input. It has politicised the public service to the extent that they are probably afraid to give independent advice and yet single individuals in the public service have been tasked with highly political roles under the intended changes.”
Several other key institutions have also been flagged for review in future cuts, including:
The Scientific Advisory Committee, who provide the pathway for listing new threatened species under Victoria's state nature laws, the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (1988). They are under assessment and in danger of, being abolished, leaving decisions about threatened wildlife to bureaucratic and political discretion rather than science-led assessment. This would make the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act dysfunctional and unable to protect threatened plants, animals and fungi.
The National Parks Advisory Council and the Reference Areas Advisory Committee, who play a crucial oversight role safeguarding our protected areas from inappropriate development and other use including review resource licences, leases within national parks and any possible excision from a national park.
The Gippsland Lakes Coordinating Committee, who provide focused oversight for one of Victoria's most vulnerable habitats during water quality and climate challenges.
Jo Hopkins, Victorian Campaigns Manager for the Wilderness Society said:
“From our alpine peaks, lush rainforests and sandy mallee to our seagrass meadows and amazing beaches, all of our incredible habitats deserve expert protection, not more cuts.”
“The Victorian Government is stripping away the independent checks that stop bad decisions for nature being made behind closed doors. These bodies exist to bring science, transparency and community voice into decisions about land, water and wildlife.”
“Removing them leaves nature in Victoria's exposed to short-term political pressure, with fewer safeguards to hold government to account.”
“We welcome the decision by the Liberal Party and crossbench to block changes to VicHealth, who have funded Active in Nature that focuses on at-risk youth spending time in parks to improve their mental and social health. They should do the same for these important institutions.”
“It's time the government put nature back on the priority list.”
Luke Chamberlain, Campaign and Policy Officer from Environmental Justice said:
“This move weakens the independent institutions that support informed, lawful and accountable environmental decision-making, precisely when good governance is most needed to protect nature and communities.”
“At a time of accelerating climate and biodiversity loss, the Victorian Government should be strengthening environmental governance, not hollowing it out.”
“The last Victorian nature report card was clear – our habitats, wildlife and landscapes are in trouble. One quarter to one third of Victoria’s terrestrial plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals, along with numerous invertebrates and ecological communities, are considered threatened with extinction. Of the 40 indicators assessed for biodiversity over 80% were assessed as poor or unknown.”
Nature advocates are calling on the Victorian Government and Victorian Parliament to:
- Retain and properly fund the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council and the Marine and Coastal Council.
- Rule out any changes to science-led, transparent decision-making for threatened plants, animals and fungi through the Scientific Advisory Committee and support the National Parks Advisory Council, Reference Areas Advisory Committee and Gippsland Lakes Coordinating Committee.
Background info:
- Entities Legislation Amendment (Consolidation and Other Matters) Bill 2025 has been tabled in the Victorian lower house and repeals key provisions of the VEAC Act and merges some with Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability. It also abolishes the Marine and Coastal Council completely.
- Background information available here.
Contact details:
Matt Ruchel, VNPA Executive Director: 0418 357 813