25/05/2026
A number of people have alerted me to a post circulating online revealing the 407 lethal Authority to Control Wildlife permits issued for wombats by the Victorian Government in 2025, and I think it’s important I address it publicly.
We’ve been fighting our state’s Authority to Control Wildlife system for years. It is barbaric, lacking in transparency and accountability, and intentionally secretive. I’m glad to see it getting more scrutiny and attention.
In 2025, I led a debate in parliament specifically on ATCW permits for wombats — encouraging the government to drop at least this species from their long list of animals that can be lethally ‘controlled’ in Victoria. There is a transcript available here: https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/parliamentary-activity/hansard/hansard-details/HANSARD-974425065-30233
There is a lot of other information about our ongoing advocacy online, but I’ve dropped some other key links below.
Opinion piece I wrote: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/14/attacking-a-young-tourist-over-her-treatment-of-a-wombat-is-hypocritical-and-misses-the-point
An article exposing how easy these permits are to obtain: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/licence-to-kill-tick-and-flick-wombatshooting-permits-slammed/news-story/803a6f725128523dba34e89df993b4d2?amp
If you’re new here, the Allan Government allows native wildlife to be killed through a permit system called the Authority to Control Wildlife (ATCW) scheme.
On paper, it’s framed as a way to (and I quote) “manage the problem”. In practice, it allows landowners to apply for permission to kill native species if they’re considered a ‘nuisance’ – even for behaviours like digging, grazing or making noise (also known as expressing their natural instincts).
Once an application is submitted, approval happens without a property inspection or independent verification.
Landholders are supposed to show that they have attempted non-lethal options first, but the government has consistently refused to tell us if they bother to verify this.
There’s also no requirement for follow-up reporting or confirmation that only the approved amount of animals were killed.
Essentially, in Victoria you can fill out a form and tick a few boxes then nobody except the permit holder knows what happens next.
The kill tally for last year is higher than the year before.
4812 lethal control permits were dished out – that’s 1245 more than 2024.
Wombats are just one out of the 63 species that were on the list.
If this is the first time you’re hearing about any of this – that’s not a coincidence. This system is intentionally kept secretive, with limited avenues for transparency available.
Approvals are made quietly, through admin processes that most people never lay eyes on (not even MPs like me) - and the same department that is responsible for the protection of these animals is the same one that is approving their slaughter.
It’s the fox guarding the henhouse - and we’re doing everything we possibly can to end it.
If you are outraged and only just learning this now, please write to the Minister for Environment who oversees the approval of this.
