Victorian East Gippsland Regional Forest Agreement

The East Gippsland Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) is one of five RFAs in Victoria. The Australian and Victorian governments originally signed the East Gippsland RFA on 3 February 1997, establishing the framework for the sustainable management of the forests in the East Gippsland RFA region.

The East Gippsland RFA was varied on 30 March 2020 with an extension until 30 June 2030 (see Media Release), as it has proven to be a strong and effective framework for the sustainable management of the East Gippsland RFA region’s forests. The extension was formalised following assessment, public consultation and independent review.

The extensions to the Victorian RFAs deliver the right balance of economic, social and environmental outcomes, paving the way for the continued sustainable management of the state’s public and private native forests and plantation estates.

The East Gippsland RFA variation includes two Annexures: Annexure 1 is the RFA marked up with the changes that have been made; Annexure 2 is a ‘clean’ version of the RFA as varied without the mark up.

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2020 East Gippsland RFA variation PDF	141	1.5 MB

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The updated East Gippsland Land Tenure and Zoning Map (December 2019), identifies the extent of the comprehensive adequate and representative reserve system in the East Gippsland RFA region.

A report has been prepared to summarise the key changes that have been made to the Victorian RFAs as part of the modernisation and extension process.

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Modernised Victorian RFAs – what’s changed	2	32

Major Event Review

The RFAs provide a framework for the continued sustainable management of Victoria’s forests and forest-based wildlife.

The 2019-20 bushfires have had significant impacts on forests, biodiversity, forestry industries and regional communities. The Australian and Victorian governments have agreed that, as a consequence of the 2019-20 bushfires in Victoria, a Major Event Review (MER) of the Victorian RFAs will be undertaken.

The MER will be undertaken by an independent panel and informed by current information including scientific data and research, community perspectives, and Traditional Owner insights relating to the impacts of the bushfires on the RFA regions.

As part of the MER process, there will be an opportunity for public consultation. More information on consultation will be provided shortly.

Scoping Agreement

The MER commences on signing of the Scoping Agreement, which outlines agreed arrangements for undertaking the review. The signed Scoping Agreement can be found here:

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Major Event Review Scoping Agreement PDF	12	4.4 MB
Major Event Review Scoping Agreement DOCX	12	64 KB

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The 1997 East Gippsland RFA

The Australian and Victorian governments signed the original East Gippsland RFA on 3 February 1997. The agreement was for a duration of 20 years and an interim extension was signed to align expiry of the East Gippsland RFA with that of other Victorian RFAs on 31 March 2020.
 

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East Gippsland RFA PDF	25	92 KB
East Gippsland RFA DOC	25	215 KB

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The East Gippsland Land Tenure and Zoning Map (January 1997) PDF  [72 KB, 1 page] identified the extent of the comprehensive adequate and representative reserve system in the East Gippsland RFA region at the time of signing.

Assessment of RFA matters

To inform the extension of the Victorian RFAs, the Australian and Victorian governments undertook a further assessment of forest-related environmental, social and economic values in the Victorian RFA regions.

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Assessment of matters pertaining to the extension of the Victorian RFAs PDF	415	10.13 MB

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Joint Victorian and Australian Government Consultation

The Australian and Victorian Governments jointly undertook extensive public consultation from 3 May to 7 July 2019 to inform the negotiation of extensions to Victoria’s 5 RFAs, including holding over 45 face to face events between 3 June and 7 July.

In total, 135 written submissions and 733 online survey responses were received, and over 330 participants took part in the face to face engagement sessions.

An independent report on the consultation outcomes across all 5 of Victoria’s RFA regions was released in December 2019.

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Independent Report on Joint Consultation on Modernisation of the Victorian Regional Forest Agreements PDF	95	1.9 MB

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A more detailed summary report of input and discussion at the engagement events was also independently prepared for each RFA region. The East Gippsland regional report is published below.

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Consultation Summary Report – East Gippsland RFA PDF	31	1.1 MB

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A report has been prepared to summarise how changes to modernise the Victorian RFAs have addressed the feedback received throughout the consultation process.

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How modernised Victorian RFAs address consultation feedback DOCX	10	56 KB

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Memorandum of Understanding for extension of the Victorian RFAs

On 5 May 2018, the Victorian and Australian governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding to ensure that long term extensions and updates to the Victorian RFA framework could be agreed by 31 March 2020.

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MoU for the extension of the Victorian RFAs PDF	8	1.17 MB
MoU for the extension of the Victorian RFAs DOCX	8	72 KB

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Extension of the East Gippsland, Central Highlands and North East RFAs

On 26 March 2018, the Australian and Victorian governments extended the timeframe of three Victorian RFAs - the East Gippsland, Central Highlands and North East - to 31 March 2020.

This lined up the expiry dates for all five Victorian RFAs and allowed the governments to adequately consider the independent reviewer’s report on the third five yearly review of the Victorian RFAs, undertake public consultation, prepare further detailed assessments of RFA matters and negotiate modernised, extended agreements for all five RFAs.

The Amendment documents for the East Gippsland RFA can be accessed below. The amendments for the Central Highlands and North East RFAs can be accessed from their respective pages at the following:

• Central Highlands
• North East

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Amendment to the East Gippsland RFA (March 2018) PDF	4	266 KB
Amendment to the East Gippsland RFA (March 2018) DOCX	4	36 KB

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Short term extension of the East Gippsland RFA

The Australian and Victorian governments executed an amendment to the East Gippsland RFA on 20 January 2017, extending its expiry from 3 February 2017 to 27 March 2018.

This extension of the agreement lined up its expiry with the Central Highlands RFA. It allowed the governments to consider the outcomes from the third five-yearly review of Victoria’s RFAs. Furthermore, it allowed the Victorian Government to consider the advice from the Forest Industry Taskforce on the future management of forests in eastern Victoria.

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Amendment to the East Gippsland RFA (February 2017) PDF	3	496 KB
Amendment to the East Gippsland RFA (February 2017) DOC	3	28 KB

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Victorian RFAs five-yearly reviews

It is a requirement of the Victorian East Gippsland RFA that its performance is reviewed every five years. The details of the Victorian East Gippsland RFA review process is outlined in the agreement.

The Victorian Government has reported on its five RFAs collectively:

• Victorian RFAs: five and ten yearly review (combined) (from the RFAs respective signing dates to 30 June 2009)
• Victorian RFAs: third five-yearly review (1 July 2009 to 30 June 2014)

Historical Publications

Many historical publications informed the development of the East Gippsland RFA and continue to underpin the management of forests covered by the agreement.

[expand all]

Comprehensive Regional Assessment:

Directions or Options Report:

Ecologically Sustainable Forest Management Report:

Environment Reports:

Factsheet:

Resource Report:

Social and Economic Report:

Annual Reports