Presidents Update

Hi there,

Well it's that time of year where it becomes a little hectic for all of us and especially for our affiliated club's secretary's, membership secretary's and treaurers' as we work through all of our annual renewal processes.  Please don't leave paying your club membership renewal until the last minute as it does make more work for your club officials.

Recently Daniel and I attended the Four Wheel Drive Australia National Council meeting hosted in Melbourne over the weekend of 13 and 14 June where Victoria and other states welcomed back Queensland to the National Council. You can read more below in our FWDA Report.  

This years meeting was highly productive and thanks to Robert Pepper's contribution the Council now has a solid foundation for a clear and straight forward strategic plan.  It was a great to work with many likeminded delegates all working collaboratively. 

I'd like to thank all those who attended either online or in person at the Presidents and Delegates meeting at the Manningham on Sat 20 June.  Getting to the venue was a little more challenging than normal with the Eastern Fwy being closed from Fri - Sun. 

To our online participants I hope that the sound quality (of those speaking in the room) has improved since our last meeting. We recently invested in some lapel microphones making it easier for our speaker/guest whilst also taking questions from the floor.  We know we didn't get it quite right on the day and have some good learnings from it for next time. 

It was great to have Sam Monahan from DEECA talk to the group about their Data Collection program and how they use the Trafx data we help collect.  As some of you will know we are seeking out volunteers from clubs to help out in this project and others programs over the next few months.  Anyone wishing to Volunteer with us can register your interest from our website, more details below.

Two additional topics I know many of you will be insterested in hearing about is the status of our Common Funding Agreement with DEECA and the Office restructure.  I'm happy to say that have signed off on a new funding agreement for the financial year 2026/27.  With regards to the restructure and office we will begin advertising shortly for a part time position titled Media and Business Support officer with the position commencing from July.  

In closing I like to thank the many clubs and club members who are still contibuting heavily to the ongoing fire recovery assistance in both Fawcett and Highlands.  Unfortuntley these regions and other rural communities are no longer front and centre in the eyes of our media or major cities where so much more work is still required in these locations.  If you're able to help out over June you can register online from our website. 

I look forward to catching up with many of you in the near future. 

Kind regards

Simon van den Berg

Board Casual Vacancy 

We currently have a casual vacancy (up to the AGM) for on ordinary member position.  If your interested in the position please email the secretary @fwdvictoria.org.au.

Note that the role requires an ASQA fit and proper delaration which may require the applicant to complete an Police Check.  

Sign Up for Updates

Enter your details via the link below to be signed up for the link you follow. You can sign up for as many as you like. 

Trafx Volunteer Support

Data Collection - Trafx counters - Four Wheel Drive Victoria - revolutioniseSPORT

High Country Backroads Tour Volunteer Support

High Country - Back Roads Tour map and guide - Four Wheel Drive Victoria - revolutioniseSPORT

Longwood Fires Volunteer Support

Longwood Fires - Ongoing assistance with recovery. - Four Wheel Drive Victoria - revolutioniseSPORT

Volunteer at the National 4x4 Show

National 4x4 Show 2026 - FWDV Volunteers - Four Wheel Drive Victoria - revolutioniseSPORT

Have a club stand at the National 4x4 Show

National 4x4 Show 2026 - Club Stands - Four Wheel Drive Victoria - revolutioniseSPORT

Sign up for Ridge and Ruts

Subscribe - Four Wheel Drive Victoria - revolutioniseSPORT

Seasonal Road Closures

Don't forget that Seasonal Road Closures started in June. 

Many tracks across Victoria are now shut due to Seasonal Closures. These closures are there to protect tracks during periods when they are susceptible to damage and where there may be environmental and ecological concerns. 

You can check out these closures and where they are via the link below:

MapshareVic

If you want to learn more about the history of Seasonal Closures, have a read of our latest social media posts to learn all about it. 

What's On

Check out What's On via the events tab via the link below. We are constantly updating this page to make sure our members know what is coming up for FWDV. 

Save the Dates

The next Presidents and Club Delegates meeting #3 will be held on Sat 19 September from 10:30am so save the date in your calendar.  We have yet to determine a venue, though once we have confirmed a venue full details of the event will be made available from our event calendar. 

Taking onboard some feedback at the recent Presidents and Delagates day we may consider expanding this meeting to include a wider audience, guest speaker and/or variation to the topics usually covered. 

4wd Courses with FWDV

Please Submit Your Club Volunteer Hours

With the end of financial  year nearly here please remember to use the volunteering data submission link: submit here  The data is for activities such as track clearing, hut-rebuilding, clean up the bush, flora and fauna projects, disaster relief, community/special work, and much more.

Four Wheel Drive Victoria will then soon begin compoleting our volunteering and KPI report to submit to our Land Managers and government.

Note that the FWDV link will not replace the Parks Victoria (PV) ParkConnect (PC) platform, as that is for approved PV activities. Clubs, members, and groups are encouraged to still use and submit via PC, but our preference is to submit via the FWDV link as a priority and step one.

We thank all of our clubs and 4wd community that have been involved in the recent volunteer Fire Recovery work either located around the Alexandra area or other areas across the state, a massive contribution has been made to the various communities.

Mt Skene Permits

The Mt Skene permit system is back and we are already accepting permits. 

The permit will be run the same as last year with the scheme opening on the 1st of June for online submissions.  Permits application can be submitted by any FWDV Club member as long as they are a financial member of an affliated club. 

To avoid your permit being cancelled please ensure that your club membership — along with the membership of all members listed on the permit —are financially current and valid for the date of your permit.

Thus if you lodge your permit prior to 30 June, and your membership lapses and your club had not reaffiliated before the permit date, your permit will be invalid and can be cancelled.

If you have any further inquires on this please email Daniel at: operations@fwdvictoria.org.au