Wetland bird hunters in Victoria will have a longer duck shooting season and can take home more birds under new rules.
The Victorian duck hunting season will begin on 19 March and run for 83 days until 9 June, up from 56 days in 2024.
Hunters can bag nine ducks a day, up from six, with seven duck species allowed.
But the blue-winged shoveler is off the list this season, and lead shot cannot be used for quail hunting.
New shooters seeking a licence must undergo online training, including Aboriginal cultural awareness training, as part of promised safety and sustainability measures.
Outdoor recreation minister, Steve Dimopoulos, said duck hunting was a legitimate activity that could be done sustainably and responsibly.
“Our wounding reduction action plan will improve animal welfare and is a significant step to make sure recreational hunting can continue sustainably in Victoria,” he said.
Victorian Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell criticised the government for the “most reckless season” in more than a decade.
Purcell said the decision to go through with another season would condemn 400,000 native waterbirds to “ruthless” slaughter.
“This is an unpopular decision by an unpopular premier who continuously cowers to the shooting and gun lobby,” she said.
Waterbird populations have dropped by almost 50% in the past year due to drought conditions, according to the Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey.
An estimated 391,900 ducks were hunted in the state in 2024, about 22% higher than average, Game Management Authority figures show, despite bag limits and a shortened season.
More than 455,000 stubble quails were harvested – almost triple the long-term average.
Those figures followed the Victorian government’s decision to ignore a parliamentary inquiry that in 2023 recommended a ban on duck hunting.
Instead of a total ban, the government in 2024 shortened the season, implemented a bag limit of six a day and pledged to introduce adaptive harvest management, hunter education and training and waterfowl wounding reduction measures.
Wildlife Victoria criticised the state government’s 2025 move, calling for “the abolishment of duck hunting in Victoria”.
“This has gone on for far too long,” it said in a statement.
“The ignoring of the recommendations of the 2023 inquiry is completely reckless and has ignored the overwhelming majority of Victorians who want to see this practise banned.”
Duck hunting has long been banned in Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.
