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The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) is the public land manager for all of Victoria’s state forests – over 3.1 million hectares – as well as the recreation sites, tracks, trails and road networks within forests.

Learn more below about our approach to managing the safety of visitors to state forests.

Who is responsible for keeping me safe?

DEECA and Forest Fire Management Victoria staff, who manage the forest day-to-day, aim to minimise health and safety risks as much as practicable. However, the vastness of forests and resources required, particularly during a fire or other emergency, mean visitor safety is a shared responsibility.

We ask that visitors take responsibility for their own safety and get to know the risks they may face in the forest, as well as for the type of activity they’re doing.

Learn how you can stay safe when visiting state forests.

An aerial view over a campground. A dirt road runs thorugh the middle and two metal toilets blocks can be seen either side.

Types of visitors and managing risk

For the purposes of managing risk, we define visitors as being either supported or self-reliant.

Supported visitors

Supported visitors are those using sites and recreational trails where DEECA has provided built infrastructure and services for recreation activities. This includes picnic grounds, campgrounds, walking tracks, mountain bike trails, and infrastructure such as carparks, toilets, barbeques, viewing platforms, and signage.

These sites and trails are actively promoted to the public and we periodically assess them for risks to visitors, including:

  • natural hazards (e.g. dangerous trees)
  • risk of falls from heights
  • structural integrity of our buildings and structures
  • health risks from watercourses.

All promoted sites and recreational trails can be viewed on the More To Explore App. If you are using a site or recreational trail that is not on the app, it means it’s an informal site or trail that was not created by DEECA and, therefore, is not risk-assessed or actively managed by us.

Self-reliant visitors

Self-reliant visitors are those who explore the broader forest outside of our promoted visitor sites and recreational trails, primarily for activities like four-wheel driving, fishing, hunting, birdwatching, trail bike riding and fossicking.

The forest areas that self-reliant visitors generally use are not subject to our regular visitor risk assessments. This means self-reliant visitors must take greater responsibility for their own safety, be aware of key risks in the forest and how to reduce their exposure to them.

Page last updated: 21/01/25