The Victorian Marine and Coastal Council has been abolished, as part of the Allan Government's review of the Victorian public service. The Council is the independent body providing expert advice to government on marine and coastal policy, covering coastal erosion, algal blooms, oil spills and the climate impacts hitting Victoria's coasts. It was axed using legislation that also introduced cuts to other nature protection institutions. The Council's removal leaves marine and coastal policy decisions without independent expert input.

Parks Victoria manages the state's national, marine, state and wilderness parks. The agency has been systematically defunded since 2023-24. Its 2024-25 annual report records 801.1 ongoing full-time positions, the lowest level since the agency's first annual report in 1997-98. A $94 million funding cut in the 2025-26 budget forced a major restructure resulting in the loss of more than 100 experienced staff; Sixty-one new ranger roles have since been filled at base grade with no minimum qualification requirements.

The Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) has been instrumental in creating our national parks and protected areas for more than 50 years. It’s being largely abolished, with its functions handed to the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability, reduced to a single public servant, with no independent council of experts. When expert bodies are cut, nature loses its independent referee. Short-term political and economic pressures can override long-term protection. Communities lose their voice in decisions about the places they love.

Around 350 jobs are being cut from the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action as part of a major restructure, significantly reducing Victoria’s capacity to look after nature and respond to increasing pressures from invasive species and climate change. The cuts directly impact bushfire and forest services, Agriculture Victoria, and regional land management teams. This further weakens already stretched on-ground capability, removing experienced staff at a time when habitats are under growing stress from logging, climate impacts and land-use change.

The Office of the Conservation Regulator (OCR), the unit responsible for enforcing Victoria’s nature laws and investigating breaches like illegal logging, habitat destruction and wildlife poaching, is losing 33 staff as part of the DEECA restructure. This represents a significant reduction in already limited enforcement capacity. At a time of escalating pressure on habitats and wildlife, it further weakens Victoria’s ability to properly monitor, investigate and enforce nature protection across public and private land.