Protecting Nature and Public Access: Our Response to the Game and Feral Animal Hunting Bill

Outdoors NSW & ACT has made a formal submission to the NSW Parliament regarding the proposed Game and Feral Animal Legislation Amendment (Conservation Hunting) Bill 2025. As the peak body for outdoor recreation, education, and nature-based tourism in NSW and the ACT, we believe it’s essential that land management policies strike the right balance between ecological conservation, cultural respect, and safe public access.

What’s in the Bill?

The proposed Bill aims to reframe recreational hunting as “conservation hunting,” with changes that include:

• Creating a new Conservation Hunting Authority

• Granting broader access to public land for licensed hunters

• Permitting the use of devices like suppressors and thermal imaging

• Introducing bounty programs for feral animal culling

While managing invasive species is a shared priority, the way it’s done—and who it impacts—matters.

Our Core Position

We support effective, evidence-based approaches to pest control, and we value community involvement in protecting native ecosystems. However, we raised concerns about this Bill’s potential to:

• Blur the lines between recreational hunting and ecological outcomes

• Increase risks to public safety and shared land access

• Undermine successful, coordinated pest control strategies already in place

We believe recreational hunting should not be reframed as conservation without clear, measurable ecological benefits and appropriate governance.

Five Key Concerns We Raised

1. A Call for Independent Oversight - We support a cross-sector Conservation Hunting Authority if it includes conservation scientists, First Nations representatives, and outdoor recreation voices—ensuring land access decisions reflect all users.

2. Conservation Must Be Evidence-Based - Professional pest control methods like aerial culling and baiting remain more effective than ad hoc recreational hunting. Conservation goals must be clear, measurable, and science-led.

3. Public Land Must Remain Safe and Inclusive - Expanding hunting access has the potential to increase risks for outdoor educators, tourism operators, and bushwalkers. Any land access changes must involve proper consultation and zoning.

4. Respect for Culture and Community - All decisions should build on respectful partnerships and education programs that promote connection to Country.

5. Ethical Concerns Around Bounty Programs - We support solutions that are humane, targeted, and ecologically sound. Bounties should be scientifically guided and co-designed with communities.

   
   

Why It Matters

Our industry connects millions of people each year with the outdoors. Safe, shared access to nature is not just a recreational asset—it’s a critical foundation for health, wellbeing, education, and economic resilience.

The decisions we make now must protect biodiversity while upholding respectful, inclusive land use. That’s the kind of legacy we want to leave.