100 signatures reached
To: Premier Jacinta Allan
Save Sustainability Victoria
We call on the Government to retract its decision to abolish Sustainability Victoria.
Victorians want action on climate change, but the Government is gutting the public institutions who are responsible for it.
The state government has announced it is abolishing Sustainability Victoria, the renowned agency pioneering Victoria’s waste and emissions reduction through circular economy. This decision is part of the Silver Review, a 2025 report which has already faced widespread backlash.
Victorians want action on climate change, but the Government is gutting the public institutions who are responsible for it.
The state government has announced it is abolishing Sustainability Victoria, the renowned agency pioneering Victoria’s waste and emissions reduction through circular economy. This decision is part of the Silver Review, a 2025 report which has already faced widespread backlash.
The reality is, without reducing waste, without a circular economy, we won’t reach Net Zero.
Why is this important?
Without the work Sustainability Victoria does, we won’t reach Net Zero.
Abolishing Sustainability Victoria is a betrayal of the state government's own commitments to the community and climate. This is happening during a time when other key environmental agencies are being gutted, diminishing Victoria’s capacity to address biodiversity decline, waste reduction and climate action.
Abolishing Sustainability Victoria is a betrayal of the state government's own commitments to the community and climate. This is happening during a time when other key environmental agencies are being gutted, diminishing Victoria’s capacity to address biodiversity decline, waste reduction and climate action.
To reach the Victorian Government’s target of Net Zero by 2045, Victoria needs to reduce emissions and waste– 36% of Victoria's emissions come from the extraction and use of manufactured goods and material products. A circular economy is integral to ensure the long-term repurposing, reusing and recycling of our resources.
Why Should We Save It?
- Sustainability Victoria is Independently Governed. For over 20 years, Sustainability Victoria has delivered the programs and expertise for Victoria to design out waste, under the guidance of an independent board and CEO. Without this independence, Victoria loses one of the only institutions that has a mandate to pursue sustainability outside of the electoral cycle.
- Sustainability Victoria has its Own Funding Model. It is funded by the Municipal and Industrial Waste Levy (MILL), collected through council rates; by law, this levy must go to sustainability initiatives like waste reduction. If unspent, this fund sits idle, used by the government to prop up its budget bottom line. The fund, meant for agencies like Sustainability Victoria, is on track to have $700 million sitting idle by July 2026.
- Sustainability Victoria benefits climate, community and the economy. By working with industry, schools, local governments and communities, SV provides evidence-based solutions that allow Victoria to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Modelling shows a circular economy, advanced by Sustainability Victoria’s team of experts, could increase Australia’s GDP by $26 billion in the next 10 years and add 150,000 new jobs to the Australian market by 2048.
Sign our petition and send a clear message to the Government:
We cannot afford to go backwards. We cannot afford to lose Sustainability Victoria.
We cannot afford to go backwards. We cannot afford to lose Sustainability Victoria.