The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been asked to investigate whether a Victorian government agency, VicForests, is deliberately misleading the public about the true cost of its industrial logging operations.Who filed the greenwashing...
Community legal guide for forest protectors in Victoria
In the face of catastrophic bushfires and as our climate and ecosystems collapse before our eyes, the right to protest native forest logging is more important than ever. Across the continent, we are seeing an alarming trend of state governments moving to impose...
Watershed court victory against VicForests
There were emotional scenes inside the Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal this week as environment groups gathered to hear the judgement in their latest legal fight against VicForests. In November 2022, VicForests was found to have been logging in breach of...
Court actions protect forests for communities, creatures and climate
An extraordinary victory that was decades in the making: the Victorian government has announced native forest logging will end by 1 January 2024. Our forests will keep standing. Our threatened wildlife are safer. We can visit today – and take our children tomorrow....
Laws criminalising peaceful protests
What do Victoria's draconian new laws mean for forest protestors? The Victorian government is introducing harsh new penalties and threats of prison time to deter concerned citizens from protesting against environmental destruction. The laws are part of an alarming...
Two landmark court wins for our forests in two weeks
The Supreme Court of Victoria has handed down two landmark judgments, both finding state-owned logging agency VicForests has logged illegally. In a win for forests and community, both judgments will require VicForests to survey for and protect threatened species. In...
As forests collapse, the Premier puts the crucial role of citizen scientists in jeopardy
By Ellen Maybery, Senior Specialist LawyerImagine you are the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. The unprecedented 2022 federal election result has just unfurled before your eyes. A slam dunk for community voices demanding real action on climate change and integrity....
That’s a wrap! WOTCH in court
Our mammoth three weeks in court representing Wildlife of the Central Highlands (WOTCH) has wrapped! We are so grateful for everyone’s support. To everyone who chipped in a donation, shared our posts on social media or followed the case live: thank you for backing...
Federal court rules on Possums Appeal
In May 2021, the full bench of the Federal Court overturned the landmark win in the case to protect the critically endangered Leadbeater's Possum and vulnerable Greater Glider from logging. The appeal was won on a single ground - that logging has a wide exemption...
VicForests’ appeal hearing for the Possums Case
VicForests’ appeal hearing has wrapped up! After three days in the Federal Court in Sydney, our legal team are heading home to await the outcome of the appeal. The team arrived at the steps of the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday and were greeted by supporters like...
We’re back in court to defend vital possum habitat
The case to protect possums from logging has been running for over three years. And after an incredible win for threatened possums, we’re heading back to court on April 12 to defend vital possum habitat once more. In May 2020, Justice Mortimer found that 66 of...
A huge thank you from our forests
We have been blown away by the incredible support from over 1,000 generous supporters to defend possums against VicForests Appeal. Together, we have raised over $70,000 to fight this appeal against our landmark win in the federal court for our clients, Friends of...
Update on our forest cases
This year has been huge for Victoria’s forests and the wildlife that calls them home. Despite the summer bushfires wiping out vast swathes of forest and so much of our precious wildlife, logging has continued across the state. It’s more critical than ever that our...
VicForests to appeal landmark Federal Court win for threatened possums
VicForests to appeal landmark Federal Court win for threatened possums VicForests last week lodged an appeal with the Federal Court over the landmark decision in the Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum case that has stopped...
Dissecting the interim EPBC Act review
On Monday 20 July, Professor Graeme Samuel released the Interim Report of the Independent Review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act (EPBC Act) - a 10-year review of our national environment laws. In the midst of a climate and extinction crisis, it’s...
Federal Court win for our possums!
We are thrilled that the Federal Court decided in favour of Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum (FLBP) in the case to protect the threatened Leadbeater’s Possum and Greater Glider from logging. The high canopies and deep hollows in the forests of Victoria’s Central...
Supreme Court update: WOTCH vs VicForests
It has been a huge few months for our forests and threatened wildlife. On 30 January representing Wildlife of the Central Highlands (WOTCH), we launched a Victorian Supreme Court Case against VicForests to stop logging in areas of unburnt habitat for threatened...
Morrison and Andrews governments fail Victoria’s threatened species in the wake of bushfires by renewing Regional Forest Agreements
MEDIA RELEASE Today, the Victorian and Commonwealth governments are expected to extend Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) for another 20 years in a move that environmental lawyers say will fail Victoria’s threatened species. Environmental Justice Australia (EJA)...