The Victorian Government cannot demonstrate whether Gippsland timber workers are better off after the $1.5 billion closure of the state’s native forest industry, with most displaced workers pushed from full-time employment into casual and insecure roles.
That is according to the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, which handed down Supporting the Transition out of Native Forest Logging — a report finding that the Allan Government’s Forestry Transition Program cannot reliably evidence its job-creation claims and has no credible plan to manage ongoing impacts beyond 2026.
The ban on native timber logging across public land took effect on January 1, 2024, affecting up to 4,000 jobs across regional Victoria and hitting Gippsland harder than any other region. More than $1.5 billion was budgeted by the Allan Government to deliver the transition, yet the Auditor-General found that the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) could not demonstrate that displaced workers had benefited.
As of June 30 last year, the Forestry Transition Program reported 137 new jobs created and 436 jobs retained — figures the Auditor-General said were not supported by reliable evidence such as progress reports or employee information. Most timber workers were employed full-time before the shutdown but were pushed into casual or insecure work afterwards, undermining the government’s claim that the transition would leave regional communities intact.
The audit found DEECA was not adequately monitoring program effectiveness and could not reliably show outcomes such as job security or business viability. With the Worker Support Program — delivered through ForestWorks and the Gippsland Trades and Labour Council — due to wind up on June 30 this year, the Auditor-General found the department had not assessed whether workers and businesses would need ongoing support beyond that date.
Closures at Opal Australian Paper’s Maryvale Mill — one of the Latrobe Valley’s largest private employers — and at the ASH mill in Heyfield have rippled through the broader Gippsland economy, with timber towns such as Orbost losing roughly a quarter of their employment base to the native logging ban. South Gippsland and Bass Coast builders, cabinet makers, furniture producers and heritage restoration trades continue to rely on Victorian hardwood, now sourced from plantation, imported stock or recycled timber.
Eastern Victoria Region MLC Melina Bath, a longstanding critic of the shutdown, said the audit validated what workers and regional communities had argued for years: “The Auditor-General found that despite budgeting $1.5 billion to shut the industry, the Allan Government cannot demonstrate whether displaced timber workers are better off,” Bath said. “Job quality has declined and employment is less secure, with Labor failing to track income or job security outcomes.”
Bath said the outcomes were not the markers of a successful industry transition, and that Labor’s plan had driven economic instability, continuing to harm regional communities. She argued the report revealed failures in governance and oversight, with accountability inconsistent and worsened by Labor’s reliance on highly paid consultants.
“The report confirms Labor shut a sustainable industry first and considered the consequences second,” Bath said. “Our regional communities deserved fairness, consultation, secure jobs and accountability, but instead they received disingenuous government spin.”
Bath argues that the funding needed to be reviewed to ensure it reached workers, families and communities rather than being diverted into further bureaucracy, whilst the Auditor-General made one formal recommendation to DEECA — to improve how it measures and verifies program outcomes for workers and businesses.
