Protected today, shot tomorrow: Ducks cross state lines into Victoria’s hunting season

Wetlands across Victoria will once again ring out with gunfire as the state’s duck hunting season begins – placing native species protected under the Wildlife Act one day, the target of hunters the next.  

Despite a 2023 Parliamentary Inquiry into Native Bird Hunting recommending a complete ban, the State Government ultimately allowed the practice to continue.   

The Inquiry received the highest number of submissions in Victorian parliamentary history, with the overwhelming majority calling for duck hunting to end.  

Had the Victorian government adopted the Inquiry’s recommendation in full, Victoria would have become the fourth Australian state to ban duck hunting, joining Western Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland, which banned the practice in 1990, 1995, and 2005 respectively. 

“Ducks are nomadic species and travel vast distances in response to rain, drought, and food availability. There are no state lines in the sky, yet wildlife protection stops at state borders.  

Australia’s native wildlife should be protected under federal legislation with consistent standards across the country.” Lisa Palma, Wildlife Victoria CEO  

Wildlife Victoria recently joined other leading wildlife care organisations – RSPCA Queensland, Wildlife Rehabilitation Advisory Group WA, and Wildlife Recovery Australia – in a federal pre-budget submission calling for a National Framework for wildlife protection, rescue, treatment and rehabilitation.  

The organisations warned that fragmented wildlife laws across Australia create gaps in protection and called on the Federal Government to consult with wildlife welfare groups to improve national coordination – particularly for threatened and endangered species.  

“Time and time again hunters have been unable to discern between ‘game’ and ‘non-game’ species. Threatened ducks such as the blue-winged shoveler and freckled duck are inevitably caught in the crossfire. It is unacceptable. 

We will continue to advocate for this cruel and unnecessary practice to end and for wildlife policy to reflect both community expectations and the growing pressures facing our native species.” Lisa Palma, Wildlife Victoria CEO 

The 2026 duck hunting season will run for 11 weeks and is scheduled to commence at 8am, Wednesday 18 March.