Enforcement statistics
The GMA uses a range of sanctions to deter illegal behaviour within our remit of legislation, such as official warnings, infringement notices, prosecutions and licence suspensions and cancellations.
Any sanctions imposed as a result of court proceedings are at the discretion of the courts, not the GMA.
Other agencies such as Victoria Police, are also authorised to undertake enforcement actions relating to illegal hunting or hunting-related activities.
GMA enforcement actions are undertaken in accordance with our Compliance Strategy 2020 – 2025.
2026 duck season compliance update (from 18 – 23 March)
For the first five days of the 2026 duck season, from 18 March – 23 March 2026, more than 100 Authorised Officers patrolled 226 wetlands and waterways.
Over the first five days of the season, a number of breaches to game hunting laws were detected. No infringements were issued for breaches of public safety laws.
The three main detected offences (in descending order) were using or being in possession of toxic-shot, failing to retain a wing on a bird and having an invalid or expired Game Licence.
Summary of preliminary 2026 duck season compliance data from 18 – 23 March 2026
Activity | Number |
Total number of wetland and waterway patrols | 226 |
Game Licences checked | 1,361 |
Hunter bags checked | 870 |
Hunters who had over bagged | 0 |
Banning Notices to be issued | 0 |
In-field Game Licence Suspension | 8 |
Infringement Notices to be issued | 18 |
Briefs or investigations to be conducted | 2 |
Official warnings | 4 |
The GMA uses a range of sanctions to deter illegal hunting and illegal protestor activity, such as official warnings, infringement notices and licence suspensions and cancellations. Some offences may also be prosecuted in court. Any sanctions imposed as a consequence of court proceedings are at the discretion of the courts.
2025-26 statistics (1 July 2025 to 31 March 2026)
From 1 July 2025 to 31 March 2026, the GMA received 140 illegal hunting reports from members of the community. The top three themes of these reports related to spotlighting and deer hunting (17% for both), firearm matters (15%) and duck hunting (11%).
Our Game Officers conduct proactive patrols based on intelligence, speaking with hunters, landowners, community groups and public land users.
Our Game Managers are also Authorised Officers and travel around the state to conduct education and engagement activities, in accordance with our Education Strategy 2020 – 2025.
For this period, 482 (Enforcement, Surveillance and Education) patrols have been conducted.
| Activity | 1 July 2025 - 31 March 2026 |
|---|---|
| GMA led operations | 20 |
Multi-agency operations Inclusive of partner agency-led operations with GMA support | 14 |
| Information reports generated | 276 |
| Investigations opened | 91 |
Investigations concluded Includes investigations opened prior to 1 July 2024 | 90 |
Warrants executed | 3 |
Investigations opened by theme 1 July 2025 – 31 March 2026 All investigations opened by the GMA involve game hunting related offences.
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Illegal hunting reports by theme 1 July 2025 – 31 March 2026Some reported themes are outside of the GMA’s remit.
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Annual enforcement overview
| Activity | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 | 2023-2024 | 2024-2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of information reports generated | 222 | 454 | 801 | 1081 | 770 | 662 | 558 |
| Official (written) warnings issued | 50 | 24 | 3 | 30 | 13 | 7 | 16 |
| Warnings (non-infringeable offences) | 12 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 9 |
| Infringement notices issued as part of the GMA conducted enforcement operations | 27 | 97 | 118 | 117 | 37 | 46 | 47 |
| Banning notices issued | 6 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 22 | 4 |
| Court proceedings concluded | 20 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 7 |
Page last updated: 22 Apr 2026