Crown Land (Reserves) Interim Regulations 2023
The Crown Land (Reserves) (Great Ocean Road coast and parks) Interim Regulations 2023 establish a clear set of rules for a consistent approach to the regulation of recreational use of reserves along the Great Ocean Road.
These reserves are currently managed by eight different entities including the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (Authority), Parks Victoria, local councils (Surf Coast Shire, Colac Otway, Corangamite, Moyne), volunteer committees of management (Princetown Recreation reserve Committee of Management, Port Campbell Recreation reserve Committee of Management) and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. Management responsibility for these reserves will be transferred to the Authority to manage by, or on, 1 November 2025, as required by the Great Ocean Road and Environs Protection Act 2020.
The regulations include new powers to provide for better management of parks, such as an ability to make regulations to set aside areas where certain activities are permitted, restricted or prohibited, to waive fees and charges and to allow for increased penalties that are in line with other Crown land regulations.
The regulations provide controls for the land manager to:
- protect environmental and cultural values
- protect public health and safety, including from fire risk
- regulate activities that may, or may not, be allowed in order to protect values
- minimise the impact of people in coast and parks on other people using the same open space.
Many of the regulations are similar to those which apply to other public land, and will complement other laws which govern various matters, such as Aboriginal cultural heritage, non-Aboriginal cultural heritage, campfires, domestic animals and firearms.