Committees of management

About committees of management

Around 1,500 Crown land reserves in Victoria (also referred to as Public land reserves) are managed by voluntary committees of management, with support and oversight from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA).

There are around 1,150 voluntary committees of management across Victoria. Most committees manage one reserve while some manage two or more reserves. Types of reserves include public halls, recreation reserves, rail trails, coastal reserves, caravan and camping parks and nature/conservation reserves.

Committee of management-related enquiries can be directed to voluntary.committees@delwp.vic.gov.au or by phone to the DEECA Customer Service Centre on 136 186. Your enquiry may be passed on to our regional staff teams working with committees of management (see "Contacting your DEECA regional office" below).

Annual Return

As well as being a legislative requirement of the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978, the Annual Return provides valuable information for DEECA's overview and support role for committees.

The due date for the 2022-23 Annual Return is 30 September 2023.

View or download the form as a Word doc 2022-23 Annual Return Form (DOCX, 963.7 KB) or pdf file 2022-23 Annual Return Form (PDF, 209.4 KB)

The Form provides an outline of requirements and how to lodge using the Crown Land Kiosk or via email or post.

It is recommended that committee members read the Detailed Guidance Notes in the Annual Return Form before beginning the Annual Return through the Kiosk.

For enquiries about the Annual Return contact:

Email: voluntary.committees@delwp.vic.gov.au

Phone: DEECA Customer Contact Centre 136 186

Voluntary committees of management news

Voluntary Committees of Management news includes a range of information for Crown land reserve committees of management across Victoria.

Stories from Crown land reserves

Castlemaine historical society

Bacchus March Council Trench Reserve Committee of Management

Bullamwaal Mechanics Hall Stage Curtain

Fawcett Hall  

Sharing stories about Crown land reserves helps to educate the broader community about the value of the work done by committees of management. It also helps committees to learn from each other.

If your committee would like to share a story with other committees through this DEECA committee of management website, please get in contact with us at voluntary.committees@delwp.vic.gov.au. We'd love to get some more stories to publish. Every reserve is unique, with many stories to tell.

You can write the story yourself or if you'd like some help with the write-up, let us know and a staff member will get in touch to discuss options.

Committee of Management guidelines

The 64-page Committee of Management Guidelines (last updated December 2021) provides detailed guidance to voluntary committees of management of Crown land reserves on topics including:

• Committee responsibilities
• Aboriginal cultural heritage and Traditional Owner rights
• Standards of conduct and required policies
• Financial management
• Developing the reserve
• Leases and licences
• Insurance
• Other governance and land management matters

It is expected that all committee of management members are familiar with the Guidelines. All new committee of management members should read the guidelines as part of their induction. Long-term committee members should read the December 2021 updated guidelines as they include significant new material compared to previous versions:

Committees of Management Guidelines (DOCX, 1.7 MB)

Committees of Management Guidelines (PDF, 919.1 KB)

Model policies for committees of management

As outlined in Section 4 of the Committee of Management Guidelines, committees are required to have policies and procedures on:

• Gifts, benefits and hospitality
• Conflict of Interest
• Meetings and decisions
• Dispute resolution

For each of these, see Model policies for committees of management for copies of model policies to assist committees. These model policies can be adopted in full or adapted to suit committee preferences.

Induction Kit for committees

The Induction Kit for committees of management for Crown land reserves provides key information for committee members, including new members. A summary is provided in a 32-slide presentation, Induction for Crown land reserve committees of management (PDF, 1.6 MB).

Note: The Induction Kit is designed for committees of management that are incorporated, or awaiting incorporation, through the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978 and with income/expenditure of less than $1 million per year (approximately 90% of all committees). Crown land reserve committees of management that are Incorporated Associations or Companies Limited by Guarantee (and the larger “Category 1” committees) receive induction-related material through other means.

The Induction Kit information for committees includes:

• Committee of Management guidelines (also, see above)
• Model policies for committees of management (see heading above)
• Quick Guide Summary of the Code of Conduct (DOCX, 951.9 KB) for Directors of Victorian Public Entities
• Induction presentation for Crown land reserve committees of management  (see link above)
• Induction video (see below)
• Back copies of the committee of management news bulletin, Voluntary committees of management news (see heading above)

In addition to the Induction PowerPoint, the Committee of Management Guidelines and other information referenced above, this induction video (now somewhat out of date) includes useful overview information for new committee members and longer-term members.

Grants

Grants to assist committees in their work may be available from a number of sources. See the links below for more information.

• DELWP Grants:
• Vic Gov Grants
• Local councils can also provide grants.

Insurance for your committee

Through the Victorian Managed Insurance Agency (VMIA) DEECA  provides insurance for voluntary committees of management for Public liability (and Products liability), Professional liability (sometimes known as Professional indemnity) and Group Personal Accident (for volunteers including committee members).

The Certificates of Currency provided below are for the 2023-24 financial year ending on 30th June 2024.

Combined Liability – certificate of currency (includes Public Liability, Products Liability and Professional liability)

Certificate-of-Currency-2023-24-CoM-Combined-Liability (PDF, 161.3 KB)

Group Personal Accident – certificate of currency (for volunteers including committee members)

Certificate of Currency-2023-24-CoM-Group-Personal-Accident (PDF, 149.0 KB)

Further information about insurance for committees is included in Section 9 of the Committee of Management Guidelines. The Guidelines include information about other types of insurance not provided by DEECA (for example, Building and Contents Insurance).

Contacting your DEECA regional office

The Communities and regions section of the DEECA website has information about DEECA regions and locations.

DEECA Land and Built Environment (LBE) teams are responsible for supporting committees of management in each region. Relevant offices for Committees of Management include Geelong, Warrnambool, Traralgon, Bairnsdale, Ballarat, Horsham, Seymour, Wodonga, Bendigo, Mildura, and Knoxfield (for all of Melbourne metro).

You can also phone the DEECA Customer Contact Centre on 136 186 (ask to be put through to the LBE Team in your part of the State) or email: customer.service@delwp.vic.gov.au (and it will be forwarded to the public land email in your region).

Crown Land Kiosk

The Crown Land Kiosk is a part of DEECA's internet-based land management information system. The Kiosk is specially tailored to assist Committees of Management with the management of Crown land reserves.

Features include:

• submitting the Annual Return, including financial details (no more paper forms or envelopes/postage required)
• storing copies of key documents and required committee policies, such as the Conflict of interest policy
• maps of Crown land reserve boundaries
• details of leases or licences
• a committee's assets register can be maintained through the Kiosk

And much more!  For example, there is a section to submit issues related to reserves for response by DEECA.

All committees are encouraged to make sure they have at least two or three Committee members who are comfortable using the Kiosk.

The Kiosk is designed for individual committee members to have their own unique login with a password. Access can be from a mobile phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer.

A 20-minute video from a Crown Land Kiosk training session provides detailed guidance for using the Kiosk (see below).

How to use the Victorian Crown Land Kiosk