Research Activity Access Agreements
4 weeks+ — Parks Victoria requires at least 4 weeks from receiving your application to assess and issue your agreement. Access Agreement applications that involve consultation with Traditional Owners may take up to an additional 6 weeks.
Free
Who needs to do this
A Research Activity Access Agreement is needed for any organisation or individual planning to conduct research on Parks Victoria managed land.
A Research Activity Access Agreement exempts researchers from certain park rules that would otherwise prevent them from conducting the research in a park or waterway. It also ensures that risks to park values, safety and park management operations that may arise from research activities are managed.
Some types of research activities on land managed by Parks Victoria are classed as low-risk and low-impact to the natural environment. In these cases, a Research Activity Access Agreement may not be required. Some examples include:
- activities that are observation only
- activities that could be undertaken by a regular park visitor
- no equipment left within a park; including markers, stakes, fences, nets, traps, cameras
- no removal of anything from a park (ie: same as a regular park visitor)
- no disturbance of soil (ie: soil, rock, sand, sediment disturbance or digging; including but not limited to pitfall traps, remote camera trap poles, sampling, soil probes, temperature loggers, etc.)
- no access to parks or areas of parks that are usually closed to park visitors.
Volunteer groups registered or affiliated with Parks Victoria do not require an Access Agreement if the activity is included in the Volunteer Activity Plan. Third parties working in partnership or on behalf of Parks Victoria (eg. contractors) do not require an Access Agreement. However, in both cases you will still need to obtain the relevant permit(s) from DEECA if required. Ensure you have read all the information on this page to determine which permits you need or contact the customer support team for further assistance.
What you need to do
1. Determine which permit(s) you require
Knowing which permit(s) you require can be complex as it depends on the type of research activity you plan to do and where. To help you understand what research permits you will require, Parks Victoria and DEECA have developed a pre-application checklist. We recommend you complete it before starting your application to ensure you apply for the right permit, to the right agency and with the right supporting documentation.
Research activities being conducted on Parks Victoria managed land may also require a permit under the Wildlife Act 1975 or Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. Using the pre-application checklist will help you determine whether you need to apply for a permit.
Complete the Pre-application checklist
A summary of the additional permits you may need to undertake research in Victoria’s natural environment and the agency responsible to issue them can be found in the 'What additional permits may I need' section below.
2. Prepare your supporting documentation
Information you provide must be clear, detailed, and honest to help us make an informed decision. You’ll need to provide the following supporting documentation:
- Map showing specific location points of where you wish to undertake research
- Certificate of currency/public liability insurance ($20 million): required for individuals and organisations
- Confirmation of OH&S plan - for organisations only (OH&S documentation doesn’t need to be provided, just confirmation that your organisation has a plan).
3. Complete the online application form
The ‘primary researcher’ or an ‘additional researcher’ should apply for the Research Activity Access Agreement either as an individual or on behalf of an organisation.
Research Activity Access Agreements are managed through your ParkConnect account. If you do not already have a ParkConnect account, you will need to register for one before you can submit your application. Once you are logged in, you will be able to select ‘ Apply for Access Agreement’ from the Research menu.
Whilst it depends on the complexity of the research activity, the average Access Agreement application should take researchers approx. 20-30mins to complete once you have all the required information.
Apply for a Research Activity Access Agreement
4. Submit your application
Upon receipt of your Research Activity Access Agreement application, you will receive a confirmation email. Our Customer Support team will contact you if they require further information.
You can view the progress of your application in the ParkConnect portal.
Before you start
All applications must be lodged with full and complete details within the minimum lead times
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Lead times
Once all documentation is received, Parks Victoria requires a minimum of 4 weeks to process your Research Activity Access Agreement application.
All Access Agreement applications that involve consultation with Traditional Owners may take up to an additional 6 weeks. We encourage researchers to keep this in mind when selecting parks if your application is time sensitive. Please email accessagreements@parks.vic.gov.au to discuss if you think this may apply to your application.
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Application details
Your application form must include, but is not limited to:
- Name of the park(s) where you wish to undertake research
- Summary of research and methodology
- Maps showing specific locations that research will take place
The application does not have to list all the researchers involved, and approved Access Agreements do not need to be amended if the researchers involved changes at a later stage.
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Insurance requirements
You must have a minimum of $20m public liability insurance coverage for the, noting the interest of Parks Victoria. A certificate of currency for less than AUD$20 million will not be accepted. This is required for both individuals and organisations.
Once your agreement is approved
Upon successful assessment, you will be sent a Research Activity Access Agreement to be signed (via Docusign) with relevant conditions. The agreement is a formal authorisation from Parks Victoria for the research to occur on Parks Victoria managed estate.
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Submitting your planned activities
After the Access Agreement is approved, a researcher needs to log into ParkConnect and enter their Planned Activities. A Planned Activity covers each time a researcher will enter a park to conduct the proposed research activities including location, time, duration, etc. Planned Activities need to be submitted in ParkConnect at least 7 days in advance. The Area Chief Ranger will check other park management activities or events happening in the park before providing approval via ParkConnect.
If an Access Agreement has qualified for a 7-day notification and the researcher has not received a response (approved/declined) via ParkConnect within 7 days after a Planned Activity has been lodged, they will receive an email to confirm the activity is approved.
For all other Access Agreements, planned activities must be approved by the Area Chief Ranger before researchers may access parks and reserves to undertake research.
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Sharing your research findings
The completion of a summary report is a condition of all research activity access agreements. To do this, you’ll need to complete and submit the template found on the ‘Research findings’ page of ParkConnect.
In addition, some of the advantages to researchers of sharing the findings from their research include:
- The incorporation of your research knowledge into Parks Victoria land management practices making scientific research in parks more visible and promoting research and researchers,
- increasing the efficiency of research by reducing the cost of duplicating research and ensuring findings are accessible to other researchers and park managers, and enhancing
- collaboration and community building among researchers.
Research findings can be submitted in multiple formats including published papers, images, sound recordings, theses and consultant reports.
More information
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Finding out who manages the public land you’d like to research onThe relevant land manager of public land in Victoria can be found on MapShare using the instructions in the MapShare Vic user manual (PDF).
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Do all Access Agreement applications get assessed by Traditional Owner groups?
If the research activity involves techniques that are deemed sensitive to impacting cultural values in the landscape, the application is assessed by Parks Victoria’s Managing Country Together team and/or the Regional Operations team. They will engage directly with the Traditional Owner group(s) and provide feedback, confirmation or questions. Examples of potentially sensitive techniques include research that involves extracting or interfering with animals, plants or soil disturbance.
All Access Agreement applications that involve consultation with Traditional Owners may take up to an additional 6 weeks. We encourage researchers to keep this in mind when selecting parks if your application is time sensitive. Please email accessagreements@parks.vic.gov.au to discuss if you think this may apply to your application.
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What is the maximum term for my Research Activity Access Agreement?The maximum term is 5 years
What additional permits may I need?
Use this table to identify additional permits you need to undertake research in Victoria's natural environment.
| Research/ activity type | Permit issued under | Permit issued by |
|
Forests Act 1958
|
DEECA |
Note:These are areas of high conservation value with restricted access. Only projects of minimal
|
Reference Areas Act 1978 | DEECA |
|
Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 |
First Peoples - State Relations (formerly Aboriginal Victoria) |
|
Fisheries Act 1995 |
Victoria Fisheries Authority |
|
Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 | DEECA |
|
Researching any of the following:
|
Heritage Act 1995 |
DEECA |
|
Capturing, collecting or interfering with wildlife including:
Important: Include Action Statements and Translocation Plans, consistent with Threatened Species concerns, in your application. |
Wildlife Act 1975 |
DEECA |
Get assistance
13 19 63
accessagreements@parks.vic.gov.au