Image above: Fox fence in Western Victoria - the dilemma of feral species in Australia and the complex interaction of non Australian species in terms of damage to farming activities and native wildlife: July 2024

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The Victorian Government issues Authorities to Control Wildlife (ATCWs), claiming every effort is made to ensure these (Australian) wildlife control permits are non-lethal. Nor do they check to see what happens once the permits have been issued.  When the Victorian Government published the ATCW data regarding the split between non-lethal and lethal permits for the first time in 2021(despite claims to the opposite in the Victorian parliament), just 2.6 per cent of the permits issued were for non-lethal control.

In Victoria, Australian wildlife is also killed on mass for recreation, financial gain and in addition, the unprotection of Australian species means no proper accountability for what occurs. A more secretive consequence of unprotection, which has been used for the mass killing Koalas in Victoria, is the use of ministerial directive and this means the data is not published in the usual ATCW reports, the killing, essentially off the books because it is globally so controversial.

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Here is our question to and response from DELWP, Victorian Government (2018) regarding unprotection orders:

What species are off the list in terms of not requiring an ATCW to destroy them?

Under section 7A of the Wildlife Act, the Minister can recommend to the Governor in Council to declare a species of wildlife unprotected in a specified area. Whilst this means that the unprotected species of wildlife may be controlled without an ATCW, it does not mean that control is not regulated. The unprotection order will specify the period and area to which the Order applies, in what circumstances the species is unprotected, and the conditions that must be met, such as who may control the species and the methods they may use. There are currently unprotection orders in place for Brushtail Possums living in buildings and municipal parks, Dingoes on or within a certain distance from private land for the protection of livestock, and Long-billed Corellas, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Galahs causing damage to property.

Australian species on the Victorian Government’s unprotection list are very vulnerable to a very cruel and painful death. The leg trapping of dingoes, people imagine this conduct ceased in the early part of last century, is just one horrific example. Wombats were also on the unprotection list but have now been removed, however large numbers of ATCW permits are issued to kill Wombats every year.

So around one million native animals are targeted by the Victorian Government each year across one hundred native species. This represents an alarming increase in the killing rate from ten years ago. The Australian wildlife that lives in Victoria cannot sustain the level of targeted killing and no account is made regarding the impact of climate change on these precious native species.

“The order allows Dingoes in eastern Victoria to be trapped, shot and poisoned on private land and on huge areas of public land that adjoins that private land (including national parks). This is despite Dingoes being listed as a threatened species under Victorian law”. Humane Society International, September 2024

In March 2024 – this from the Victorian Government:

“The Victorian Government remade the dingo unprotection order in north-west Victoria due to new scientific information about the local dingo population’s imminent risk of extinction. Dingoes are now protected in north-west Victoria, on both public and private land, and it is an offence to destroy them without an authorisation. Dingoes remain unprotected on private land in all other areas of Victoria and on public land within 3km of the boundaries of any private land within the east of Victoria”.

And a further note on Dingo populations in Victoria:

“Currently, there are two main populations of Dingoes in Victoria: a population in the east, and a smaller disconnected population in the north-west (the Mallee) near the Big Desert. The Mallee population is genetically distinct to other dingo populations across Australia, and with as few as 40 Dingoes left. It is at risk of extinction.  Due to low numbers, the dingo population in Victoria’s north-west is already experiencing inbreeding, and any further loss of dingoes increases the risk of population collapse”.

In September 2024, a grim month for Australian wildlife in Victoria, the Victorian Government announced that the unprotection order for Dingoes in the north east and eastern Victoria, which permits the control of Dingoes on private land and along the boundaries of public land, would continue until 1 January 2028.

“Dingoes will continue to be protected in the north west of the state where the dingo population is critically low. Lethal controls will not be permitted on private or public land in the north west. There is little evidence that dingoes are present in large numbers in these parts of the state. To support farmers to protect their livestock the Labor Government is investing more than AUD 2 million to undertake Dingo monitoring and support for north west farmers to adopting non-lethal Dingo management strategies”.

Meanwhile, Wildlife Victoria, the state’s main wildlife rescue organisation, was defunded in the 2024 state budget. Plenty of additional funding was provided to ensure the state government’s plans to kill Australian wildlife would continue. Beware those who object.

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