INVESTIGATIONS & ASSESSMENTS
The latest projects
Assessment of the values of state forests in the Central Highlands
On 20 March 2023, VEAC was requested by the then Minister for Environment to assess the values of Immediate Protection Areas in the Central Highlands and East Gippsland, and in adjacent state forests. Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos MP amended the terms of reference on 11 September 2023 to focus on all the state forests in the Central Highlands Regional Forest Agreement area and VEAC’s interim report addressing parts (a) to (d) of those terms of reference was published in December 2023. On 31 July 2024, Minister Dimopoulos extended the date for VEAC to submit its final report to one month after the Government publicly released the Eminent Panel for Community Engagement’s report on Central Highlands state forest. That report by the panel, along with the government’s response to it was released on 21 October 2025 and the Minister advised VEAC that its assessment of the economic implications of the Panel’s recommendations (part (e) of the terms of reference) should only cover the recommendation that the government accepted, namely to expand the Yarra Ranges National Park to include the Yarra Tributaries Forest Reserve. VEAC’s resultant final report, incorporating that economic assessment, was to be submitted to the Minister on 16 January 2026.
Advice on Aspects of Public Land Use Information
Two reports were submitted to the Minister for Environment Ingrid Stitt MP on 28 April 2023 providing VEAC's completed advice on aspects of public land use information. The advice was requested by the previous Minister the Hon Lily D'Ambrosio MP on 30 November 2020. Separate reports were provided on (a) data on recreational activities on Victoria's public land and (b) improving the VEACRecs25 dataset on agreed public land use.
