Beach Patrol Australia

05/08/2026

H5 avian influenza (bird flu) has recently been confirmed in Victoria.

The risk to volunteers during beach cleans remains low, and we will continue clean ups as normal unless government advice changes. To support Agriculture Victoria’s detection efforts and help protect local wildlife, we encourage you to report sick or dead birds and marine mammals, particularly along our beaches.

If you come across a sick or dead animal, please do not touch, handle or move it.

Safety info for beach clean ups in the comments below.

Remember to Avoid, Record, Report:
• Avoid contact and keep children and pets away
• Record the location and, if safe to do so, take photos or videos from a distance. Use GPS if possible.
• Report sightings immediately at https://forms.bio.vic.gov.au/wildlife-influenza-investigation

What to report:
• clusters of five or more sick or dead wild birds, of any species, anywhere in Victoria
• a single sick or dead:
🦅 seabird, waterbird, shorebird or bird of prey
🦭 marine mammal (such as a seal, sea lion or dolphin).

🔗 To learn more and report sightings, visit Agriculture Victoria https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/biosecurity/animal-diseases/poultry-diseases/H5N1-avian-influenza-H5-bird-flu

01/08/2026

48 volunteers came out this fine Winters day to collect plastic rubbish off one of our Port Melbourne beaches. They removed 48 bots and cans, 19 coffee cups&plastic lids and 93 plastic bottle caps which is why we need tethered tops in Australia. Plus 15 bags of other plastic litter. DEECA Victoria Environment Protection Authority Victoria

26/07/2026

📢 Our Winter newsletter has just dropped! Check out all the news from BeachPatrol and Love Our Street including:

▫️ Community engagement activities
▫️ Campaign updates
▫️ Order your exclusive hoodie
▫️ Mega clean up in Wyndham

http://createsend.com/t/t-1A06723AD798C9ED2540EF23F30FEDED

See you at a community clean up soon!

20/07/2026

Saturday was Love Our Street 3207 July street clean. 20 bottles and cans. 25 coffee cups and lids. Plus 23 plastic bottle caps further reinforcing why we need

09/07/2026

We'd love Victoria's Container Deposit Scheme to expand to include more containers too.

See our campaign page for more information www.beachpatrol.com.au/campaigns

Exciting news from the NT! 🥳

The Northern Territory Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) expanded on July 1, 2026, to include all beverage containers up to 3 litres in size. Territorians can now claim a 10-cent refund on wine and spirit bottles, and plain milk cartons, alongside traditional drink containers.

That means more containers entering the cleanest recycling stream we have. Would you like to see this in your state next?

05/07/2026

So many littered plastic bottle caps. We need to be more responsible like they are in the EU.

03/07/2026

Last week, the Boomerang Alliance sat down with Victoria's Environment Minister, Enver Erdogan MP to discuss the future of waste reduction, CDS Vic, and urgent packaging reform.

To bring our message home, we delivered our policy priorities directly to the Minister inside a "Message in a Bottle" (pictured)!

These European bottles feature a tethered cap, a simple design that keeps lids attached to stop plastic litter. They’re already mandated in the EU, and we are distributing them to environment ministers nationwide to show them what's possible right now!

Here is what we are pushing for:

🚀 A Move to Reusables: Transitioning from a basic "recycling culture" to scalable reuse systems.
🎯 Optimising & Expanding CDS Vic: Raising the refund to 20c, boosting community participation and adding wine and spirit bottles to the scheme.
🔒 Tethered Cap Mandates: Following Europe's lead to keep plastic out of our oceans.
🏛️ Mandatory Packaging Reform: Moving past voluntary "guidance" to legally binding targets for producers.

Voluntary measures aren't cutting it. True progress requires strong laws that design out waste from the start. We look forward to working with the Victorian Government to build a truly resilient, circular economy! 🙌

Ps - a big thank you to Beach Patrol Australia
for the hundreds of littered bottle tops all the amazing volunteers have been picking up week after week. We delivered a big box of Sandringham patrol’s lids. Let’s fastrack this design change and help keep our coasts clean. 🌊

Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action

30/06/2026

This month is Plastic Free July, where we can all do our bit to reduce the impact of plastic pollution on the environment.

Our BeachPatrol and Love Our Street community clean ups are a great way to contribute! Visit our website www.beachpatrol.com.au/calendar to find a clean up near you.

Learn more about how you can use less plastic at www.plasticfreejuly.org

22/06/2026

LOS 3207 had their June clean on Saturday. 6 people, 6 bags of plastic rubbish. Plus drink containers and those loose plastic bottle caps.

13/06/2026

This year, BeachPatrol and Love Our Street groups have gone from strength to strength. So far we have removed more than 6,000kg of litter from beaches and open spaces, diverted over 7,000 bottles and cans into the container deposit scheme and removed almost 8,000 littered bottle caps from the environment ♻️

We want to do more, and grow our reach across the country. Your help is invaluable. Consider making a tax deductible donation today by visiting www.beachpatrol.com.au or click below.💚