History
The Association of Rangers and Conservationists exists to represent rangers, their professional interests as valued contributors to the management of natural and cultural assets and to provide networking opportunities with fellow professionals in the area of natural resource management.
1900 to 1960's
About 10 Rangers in total looking after all of the Parks in the whole state of Victoria.
1967
The Rangers Group (forerunner to the VRA) established to represent Rangers employed by the individual committees of management that were responsible for managing National Parks.
1972
Establishment of the State Ministry for Conservation and National Parks Service. The Rangers Group focused on improving employment conditions for Rangers employed by the National Parks Service throughout this period and in gaining public service status for its members.
1976
New constitution adopted by the Rangers Group as the structure of the parks management agency changes due to amalgamation with other agencies. The Rangers Group becomes more involved in industrial matters and eventually becomes affiliated with the public sector union.
1985 to 1995
Industrial matters dominate the agenda of the VRA.
1996
Parks Victoria is formed, this stimulates the VRA to de-affiliate itself from the union and re-establish it's role as a professional body rather then an industrial body. Membership was expanded to include anybody who supported conservation service's or the organisation's objectives.
2017
The VRA decides to change its name to the Association of Rangers and Conservationists (ARC Vic) in order to better reflect the diversity of its members.
ARC Victoria Today
ARC Vic is an organisation representing not just rangers, nor only rangers from Parks Victoria, but all individuals who work in a field delivery role for Victorian organisations that have natural and cultural resource conservation as their main focus. Our current membership stands at about 70 individuals.
ARC Vic is an active member of both the Conucil of Oceania Ranger Associations (CORA) and the International Ranger Federation (IRF). ARC Vic members automatically are members of both these bodies also. Members have opportunities to attend the annual CORA national meetings around Oceania, and to attend the tri-annual IRF World Ranger Congress. The VRA hosted the 4th IRF World Congress at Wilson's Promontory National Park and other sites in Victoria during March 2003. It was a great boon for VRA members and a fantastic opportunity for interaction with similar professionals from around the world.
With many topical issues directly related to ARC Vic interests, ARC Vic feels that now is the opportune time for all conservation-based employees to become involved in an association that will represent the needs and concerns of all natural and cultural resource managers.
