Policy and regulatory resources

All you need to know in one place 

Regulatory Framework Overview (pdf with links, 3 June 2022)

National and International

NFPS

Janis

Montreal

Statutes

EPBC Act and Independent Review 

CFL Act

Forests Act

SFT Act

FFG Act

Case law

EJA forest litigation

FOLB Case (Federal Crt): the case, challenging exemption (15 Nov 2017), hope (2 March 2018), testing VF non-compliance (20 April 2018), temporary injunction (24 April 2018)

F&FRC case (Supreme Crt): court action, defending old-growth forests

Links to court reports 

Vic State Gov

Sustainability Charter and Criteria and Indicators

Biodiversity 2037 

DELWP

Diverse accounts of Victoria's Forest Management System

Vic GovOverview (Dec 2019)DELWP (2020)OCR (20/21)

Code of practice and MSPs

Independent Review of Timber Harvesting - Report (24 Oct 2018) (RFPG Subn here)

DELWP Response (Mar 2019)

A review of the effectiveness and impact of establishing timber harvesting exclusion zones around Leadbeater's Possum colonies (DELWP, 11 July 2017)

Forest Protection Survey Program (relaunched 19 Mar 2019)

Forest Reports (DELWP)

Forest Reports: Timber Harvesting 1 Jan 2016 - 30 April 2017

Office of the Conservation Regulator (15 Mar 2019)

Timber Harvesting Statement of Regulatory Intent - Draft for Consultation (to 17 May 2019)

State of the Forests Report (DELWP, 2013)

State of the Environment Report (March 2019)

Forests (Recommendation 8

Forests Scientific Assessment (from here)

Forest Management Plan for the Central Highlands 1998

Forest Audit Program 

Forest Management Zoning Scheme and Bioregions and EVC benchmarks (see also Updated CH Land Tenure and Zoning Map (Dec 2019)

RFAs

National Forests Policy Statement (1992/95)

Victoria's RFAs: What's Changed (2020)

Regional Forest Agreements (DAWR)

RFA Central Highlands (DAWR)

RFA Extension, Rollover or Review (FOI docs, 10 Feb 2015, mostly redacted)

The RFA Modernisation Project

Report of ENGO RoundtablePublic Lecture Program

Independent Review on Progress with Implementation of the Victorian Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) final report (May, 2010)

Scoping Agreement for the third five-yearly review of progress with Implementation of the Victorian Regional Forest Agreements (May 2016)

Report on Progress with Implementation of the Victorian Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) Period 3: 2009-2014 (Nov 2017); deadline for community feedback 29 Jan 2018 

Final Report on Progress with Implementation of the Victorian Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) An update to the December 2009 Draft Report on Progress including additional information as recommended by the Independent Reviewer (2014)

VAGO 

VAGO (May 1993) Timber industry strategy

VAGO (Oct 2003) Managing logging in State forests

VAGO (Oct 2004) Measuring the success of the our Forests : our Future policy

VAGO (Dec 2013) Managing Victoria’s Native Forest Timber Resources

RFPG2VAGO (May 2016) Proposing another audit of VicForests

VAGO2RFPG (May 2016) #053 Noted. Request to be passed on to relevant team

RFPG2VAGO (Sept 2017) Seeking review of 2013 audit

VAGO2RFPG (Oct 2017) #264 Under consideration; suggestion passed on to relevant audit team

RFPG2VAGO (Jan 2018) #289 Providing useful documents

VAGO (June 2018) Follow Up of Selected 2012–13 and 2013–14 Performance Audits 

RFPG2VAGO (Sep 2020) #546 Sumission re Biodiversity 2037 RFPG urges Auditor-General to examine the contradictions between the State Government's conservation obligations and its log supply commitments

VAGO (July 2021) Protecting Victoria's biodiversity

VicForests

SCS Report on VicForests FSC accreditation – Central Highlands and East Gippsland) (October 2018) 

VF FSC 2020 

VicForests Proposed Change to Timber Release Plan (Dec 2017); deadline for community feedback 12 Jan 2018

Inquiry into VicForests Operations (Vic Parliament Economy and Infrastructure Committee: self-referenced 10 May 2017)

Timber Allocation Order 2013 (as amended 30 Oct 2014)

VicForests FSC 2020 Project (Alex Messina presentation to RFPG, 1 Mar 2019)

VicForests’ High Conservation Value Management Systems (For consultation to 26 April 2019)

VicForests’ Harvesting and Regeneration Systems (For consultation to 26 April 2019)