Improving the boating experience for all Victorians depends on maintaining safe, accessible, and well-kept public boating facilities. To achieve this, the Victorian Government is reinvesting recreational boating licence and registration fees through the 2024–25 Recreational Boating Dredging and Access Program.
Under this program, $500,000 in grant funding has been allocated to eligible organisations for essential maintenance works. These include repairing boat ramp surfaces, undertaking minor repairs to breakwall structures, and maintaining key boating infrastructure such as jetties and pontoons.
Eligible applicants included local councils, committees of management, catchment management authorities, water corporations, and state government agencies, with the opportunity to submit multiple applications for consideration.
All submissions were reviewed by a Funding Advisory Panel comprising representatives from both government and industry. The panel assessed each application against established funding criteria and provided recommendations on grant allocations to the Minister for Outdoor Recreation.
This latest funding round will support 13 grant recipients in enhancing boating facilities across inland and coastal Victoria, spanning from Nelson in the state’s west to Lake Eppalock in central Victoria, ensuring safer and more enjoyable access for boaters across the state.
Successful applicants were:
Goulburn Murray Rural Water Corporation
Lake Eppalock – Kirrang Point boat ramp maintenance and repairs
$75,000
Bass Coast Shire Council
Newhaven boat ramp – structural repairs
$75,000
Parks Victoria
Bridgewater Lakes boat ramp and jetty improvements
$59,360
Lake Charlegrark Recreation Reserve Committee
Lake Charlegrark boat ramp – ramp repair and extension
$56,500
Rural City of Wangaratta
Wangaratta LGA boat ramp concept designs (for two locations on the Ovens River in Wangaratta)
$34,945
Bellarine Bayside Foreshore Committee of Management
Installing jetty ladders at Indented Heads boat ramp and car park improvements at Steeles Rock boat ramp
$37,857
Corinella Foreshore Reserve Committee of Management
Corinella boat ramp jetty – non-slip decking
$30,000
Nelson Reserve Committee of Management
Simsons boat ramp – Nelson – car park improvements
$28,344
Crib Point Stony Point Foreshore Committee of Management
Stony Point boat ramp – repair cracked ramp concrete
$28,000
Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority
Peterborough/Bay of Islands boat ramp – concrete replacement
$17,000
Moyne Shire Council
Port Fairy boat ramp – safety enhancements
$15,900
Hobsons Bay City Council
Altona boat ramp – navigation pile maintenance
$14,110
Deep Lake Recreation Reserve Committee of Management
Deep Lake boat ramp – jetty improvement
$3,000
To learn more about boating upgrades across Victoria, visit betterboating.vic.gov.au
