Parks Victoria Annual Report 2015–16 Acknowledgement of Country Aboriginal people, through their rich culture, have been connected to the land and sea, for tens of thousands of years. Parks Victoria respectfully acknowledges Aboriginal Traditional Owners, their cultures and knowledge and their continuing connection to and cultural obligation to care for their Country. Parks and waterways Parks Victoria manages many sites such as piers, waterways, ports, bays, historic buildings, trails, urban parks, small conservation reserves and large national and state parks. For the sake of brevity, these are collectively referred to in this document as ‘parks’, unless a specific type of site is stated. For further information about Parks Victoria and the parks it manages visit www.parks.vic.gov.au or call 13 1963. Copyright © State of Victoria, Parks Victoria 2016 Level 10, 535 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 ISSN 1448 – 9082 ISSN 1448 – 9090 (online) Published on www.parks.vic.gov.au 2 About Parks Victoria Contents About Parks Victoria 4 Chairman’s message 8 Chief Executive’s message 9 Our achievements 10 Strengthening Parks Victoria 12 Connecting people and parks 13 Conserving Victoria’s special places 19 Providing benefits beyond park boundaries 25 Enhancing organisational excellence 31 Compliance and disclosures 42 Financial Report 58 Parks Victoria Annual Report 2015–16 3 About Parks Victoria Who we are What we manage Parks Victoria commenced operations on 12 December The network of parks that we manage includes 1996 as a statutory authority under the Parks Victoria national parks, marine parks and sanctuaries, Act 1998 to manage Victoria’s diverse parks system. wilderness areas, state and metropolitan parks, In recent years, the area that we care for has increased thousands of Aboriginal and post-European cultural to 18 per cent of the State or 4.11 million hectares. and heritage sites, and around 70 per cent of Victoria’s coastline. Parks Victoria is also the Local We manage the estate in partnership with Traditional Port Manager for Port Phillip Bay, Western Port and Owners, government and non-government Port Campbell and the Waterways Manager for the organisations, park neighbours, friends’ groups and Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers. the broader community. As stipulated in the Parks Victoria Act 1998, our functions are: Our ministers • to provide services to Victoria and its agencies for The responsible ministers for the reporting the management of parks, reserves, and other period were: land, under control of the State; and • from 1 July 2015 to 22 May 2016, the • with approval of our Ministers, to provide services Hon Lisa Neville MP, Minister for Environment, to the owner of any other land used for public Climate Change and Water purposes, for the management of that land. • from 23 May 2016 to 30 June 2016, In carrying out our functions, we do not act in a way the Hon Lily D’Ambrosio MP, Minister for that is not environmentally sound. Energy, Environment and Climate Change • from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016, the Hon Luke Donnellan MP, Minister for Ports. Regional boundaries Our organisation manages land and facilitates on-water recreation across four regions: Melbourne, Northern Region, Western Region, Eastern Region 4 About Parks Victoria Parks network Built assets Parks Victoria manages Parks Victoria’s built asset portfolio has an estimated replacement value 4.1 million of $1.8 billion and includes hectares (18% of Victoria) 46 visitor centre buildings this includes 738 shelters 45 national parks 832 toilets 26 state parks 509 viewing lookouts 60 other parks 59 playgrounds 30 metropolitan parks 15,500 km of roads (approximately) 2,700 natural features and conservation reserves 1,336 pedestrian and vehicular bridges 3,700 km of walking tracks (approximately) Parks Victoria also manages 121 sporting facilities 209 piers and jetties 70% 110 water access points of Victoria’s coast 710 navigation aids this includes 13 marine national parks 11 marine sanctuaries Visitation Each year, Parks Victoria welcomes 98.5 million visits to the Parks Victoria estate, including 37.8 million 44.6 million 16 million visits to national parks visits to piers and jetties visits to metropolitan parks Parks Victoria Annual Report 2015–16 5 Shaping Our Future Parks Victoria is a world-class park service ensuring healthy parks for healthy people. Parks Victoria delivers enduring benefits to park users and the community through expert stewardship of Victoria’s terrestrial and marine parks estate. As outlined in our long-term strategy, Shaping Our Future, Parks Victoria delivers these benefits by focussing our work across four strategic, integrated themes: 1. Connecting people Our purpose and parks At Parks Victoria, we inspire the community to conserve and enjoy Victoria’s unique natural and We will contribute to the improved health and cultural heritage. Together, we care for Country wellbeing of the community through a park and promote the value of our parks and waterways network that is cherished by the community. for the benefit of all Victorians and their visitors. 2. Conserving Victoria’s organisational ing exc nc elle ha nc special places En e We will do all we can to increase the resilience Connecting of natural and cultural values in parks, in the people face of climate change and other stressors, and parks whilst working to maintain and restore the health of parks and the special places within them. Vision Conserving Providing benefits Victoria's Purpose 3. Providing benefits special places beyond park boundaries beyond park boundaries V i c s t t o n r e ia n m it P We will contribute to the wellbeing of Victorians u m b m li o c c S ’s beyond the boundaries of the parks we manage. er ia vi or ce t v ic a s V lu rk es Pa 4. Enhancing organisational excellence We will create an interconnected, sustainable, resilient organisation that anticipates and adapts to economic, social and environmental changes. 6 Shaping Our Future Healthy Parks Healthy People By experiencing, understanding and benefitting from the values generated by parks, people advocate, care, invest in, and act for the health of parks. Traditional Owners have long understood the integral Our commitments link between nature and human health and wellbeing, as expressed by the phrase ‘Care for Country and Supporting our vision, purpose and approach are Country cares for you’. six commitments that support Parks Victoria Parks Victoria’s adoption of Healthy Parks Healthy to be a high-performing organisation. Our six People builds on this traditional knowledge and commitments are: reflects an ever-growing body of research that • Put safety first confirms the time we spend connecting with nature has a positive impact on our health and wellbeing. • Provide excellent customer service Healthy parks sustain our life and liveability. They • Collaborate improve our physical, mental and spiritual health and • Lead innovation wellbeing and generate income, jobs and economic productivity. • Be accountable Through our expert management of Victoria’s parks • Act with integrity estate, we foster the connection community has with Country and, in turn, foster community health, wellbeing and development. Our values Healthy Parks Healthy People is our approach. Parks Victoria staff subscribe to the seven core values of the Victorian Public Sector Code of Conduct. These values are: • Responsiveness • Integrity • Impartiality • Accountability • Respect • Leadership • Human rights Parks Victoria Annual Report 2015–16 7 Chairman’s message I am delighted to present the 2015–16 Parks Victoria Annual Report, in accordance with the Financial Management Act 1994. In 2015–16, Parks Victoria has once again proven Our long-term strategy, Shaping Our Future, its ability to deliver value to all Victorians. Our is undergoing a refresh and will also include a new commitment to being a world-class park service purpose statement developed by our staff across is demonstrated through the organisation’s the organisation. performance against annual objectives as outlined The Valuing Victoria’s Parks report was launched in in this report. September 2015 and has provided excellent data Parks Victoria’s strength comes from its talented that communicates the real value of our parks estate. and passionate team and our organisation’s ability Evaluating and promoting the benefits and services to attract, collaborate and work with partners. that Victoria’s parks provide – including clean air and Some of the partnerships that have allowed us to water, services to regional visitor economies and in deliver on our objectives this year include working preventative health – is an important platform to with Traditional Owners, volunteers, licensed tour drive investment into our parks. Basing our decisions operators and across all levels of government. The on research like this ensures that the Victorian common element in all of these partnerships, which community will derive the maximum economic, allows us to work so well together, is the shared environmental and social benefits from parks into desire to conserve and protect our treasured natural the future. and cultural landscapes and biodiversity to ensure An exciting new project, called “Strengthening Parks that they benefit everyone both now and into Victoria”, was also initiated this year. The project the future. will consult with the community to identify and We continue to place visitors at the heart of our report to government on the community’s vision for decision-making. Every two years, Parks Victoria Victoria’s parks. Strengthening Parks Victoria will conducts research into park visitor satisfaction and inform how the organisation can best manage our the perception of Parks Victoria as an agency. This parks, reserves, ports and waterways on behalf of year’s results speak for themselves, with the overall government in the years to come. satisfaction of our visitors being rated significantly Approaching its 20th anniversary in December 2016, higher than the previous survey.