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 Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP). 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.

Annual Return

The due date for the 2021-22 Annual Return is 30 September 2022. Thanks to all the committees who submitted by the due date. If your committee hasn't yet submitted, please do so by 31 October 2022.

View or download 2021-22 Annual return form (DOCX, 158.0 KB). It provides an outline of requirements and how to submit using the Crown Land Kiosk.

For people already registered for the Kiosk, go to the Crown Land Kiosk to complete the Annual Return directly online. For forgotten passwords hit “forgot password” and follow the instructions for a reset.

To register for the Kiosk for the first time, please email clip@delwp.vic.gov.au. We will reply with instructions for completing the Kiosk registration process.

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

For general enquiries about Annual Returns or the Crown Land Kiosk, contact:

DELWP Customer Contact Centre

Phone: 136 186

Email: customer.service@delwp.vic.gov.au

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 DELWP 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 DELWP 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)

Good Governance fact sheets and model policies for committees of management

The Good Governance Fact Sheets and model policies for committees of management provide a summary of key governance information for committees, with links to more detailed information available in model policies and the Committee of Management Guidelines.

Fact sheet topics include:

  • Financial management
  • Developing the reserve
  • Insurance

Model policies are provided for:

  • Gift, benefits and hospitality
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Meetings and decisions
  • Dispute resolution

The Fact Sheets are part of an Induction Kit for the new committee of management members. They also provide useful summaries of information for long-standing members.

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)
  • Good Governance Fact Sheets and model policies (also, see above)
  • Quick Guide Summary of the Code of Conduct for Directors of Victorian Public Entities (available as part of model policies)
  • Induction PowerPoint presentation (PDF, 1.6 MB)
  • Induction video (see below)
  • Back copies of the committee of management news bulletin, Voluntary committees of management news (see below)

In addition to the Induction PowerPoint, the Committee of Management Guidelines and Good Governance Fact Sheets, this induction video provides useful 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.

Insurance for your committee

Through the Victorian Managed Insurance Agency (VMIA) DELWP 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).

Certificates of currency for these insurances are provided below.

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

Certificate-of-Currency-2022-23-CoM-Combined-Liability (PDF, 158.7 KB)

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

Certificate of Currency-2022-23-CoM-Group-Personal-Accident (PDF, 153.1 KB)

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

Contacting your DELWP regional office

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

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

You can also phone the DELWP 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 DELWP’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 DELWP.

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 log-in with a password. Access can be from a mobile phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer.

A half-hour video from a Crown Land Kiosk training session provides detailed guidance for using the Kiosk.

How to use the Victorian Crown Land Kiosk

For further information and to request access to the Kiosk, email: CLIP@delwp.vic.gov.au or contact a DELWP Committees of Management staff member in your region (see contact details above).

Coronavirus (COVID19) information for committees

The Victorian Government's Coronavirus - Business and Work website provides information about Covid-19, including COVIDSafe plans for workplaces relevant to community groups and volunteer organisations.

Under the current arrangements announced by the Premier on 7 October 2022, the Pandemic Declaration and pandemic orders have ended. The only requirement for vaccinations is:

  • for specific healthcare workers under a direction from the Dept of Health Secretary
  • for any specific workplaces public service workers covered by any Departmental Secretary Directions requiring vaccinations.

At this stage, there is no requirement for committee of management members to be vaccinated to attend committee meetings.

Page last updated: 25/10/22