On Monday, 2 October 2023, the new Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allan, announced her cabinet.

For recreational deer hunters, the significant change is pairing the relatively new Outdoor Recreation portfolio with Environment. At face value, this appears to be a logical alignment enabling the one Minister to make considered policy decisions.

Minister Steve Dimopoulos will take charge of these portfolios alongside Tourism, Sport and Major Events.

The Australian Deer Association is excited by this change and can see the significant benefits of aligning these portfolios, especially given that recreational activities, such as deer hunting, take place on public land. 

Recreational deer hunters are one of the largest stakeholders and users of Victoria's State Forests and National Parks, with over 50,000 licence holders, and growing. There are already great foundations in place that the ADA fought for and won, there is now a natural opportunity to expand upon these.