Wildlife Victoria, the only statewide wildlife rescue organisation, will begin an urgent review of operations after receiving only 5% of annual operating costs in state budget.
The charity needed to seek government clarification after Tuesday’s announcement with budget papers unclear on what funding was being allocated for environment and wildlife groups.
Wildlife Victoria has operated the state’s largest wildlife emergency response service since 1989, providing the Victorian public with a free 24/7 wildlife rescue service for sick, injured, and orphaned native animals.
Despite a 204% increase in call volume over the past five years and over 189,000 reports in 2025 alone, the charity – which outlined the need for $4 million over two years in its pre-budget submission – received only 12.5% of sought funding.
“We’re a charity – we will always be grateful for government support – but as outlined in our pre-budget submission, we simply cannot continue to meet the increase in demand for services without funding that reflects the scale of the service we provide.
We now start the difficult process of reviewing our operations to determine what services we may need to reduce, begin charging for, or cease altogether.” Lisa Palma, Wildlife Victoria CEO
All of Wildlife Victoria’s services are currently provided free of charge to the public, with its Emergency Response Service operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, ensuring Victorians always have somewhere to turn for wildlife in distress.
In 2025, the charity responded to over 14,000 calls between 9pm and 6am, but Wildlife Victoria’s CEO, Lisa Palma, has warned overnight operations are now at risk, potentially leaving tens of thousands of native animals without urgent care.
Without Wildlife Victoria, the community will no longer have a statewide service to call when they encounter wildlife in need, general practice veterinary clinics could face further pressure from additional wildlife presentations, and response times for sick and injured wildlife will significantly increase leaving animals in pain for longer and reducing treatment options.
“Wildlife Victoria exists because the government has failed to provide a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation service to Victorians and our state’s precious native animals. We’ve worked tirelessly to fill that gap, but the divide between operating costs and available funding has now grown to a point where continuing as we are is no longer sustainable.” Lisa Palma, Wildlife Victoria CEO