Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence (RFL). Read from VFA on 2026-09-23, schedule 2026-07-01.
All forms of recreational fishing in all Victorian marine, estuarine and inland waters: line fishing, bait and shellfish collection, yabby fishing, prawning and spearfishing, and using or possessing fishing equipment in, on or next to Victorian waters.
| Licence | Online (Service Victoria) | Agent |
|---|---|---|
| 3 days | A$10.00 | A$10.00 |
| 28 days | A$24.70 | A$24.70 |
| 1 year | A$40.80 | A$43.30 |
| 3 years | A$111.20 | A$117.40 |
Prices in AUD, the same for residents and visitors. Licences are GST exempt and new fees start every 1 July; the prices here are the 2026/2027 schedule from 1 July 2026.
Exemptions. No licence is needed if you are under 18, are 70 or over, hold a Victorian Seniors Card or an interstate equivalent, a Veterans’ Affairs Pensioner Card, a Victorian Veterans Card, a DVA Gold Card coded TPI, or a Commonwealth Pensioner Concession Card coded DSP, DSP Blind, AGE, AGE Blind or CAR, or if you identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Ordinary Health Care Cards, Parenting Payment Single and JobSeeker cards, Seniors Business Discount Cards and DVA White and Orange Cards do not exempt you. Carry the card that exempts you.
The licence is personal: it cannot be lent or transferred.
Online through Service Victoria, which is the cheapest option for the one-year and three-year licences and issues a digital licence that fisheries officers accept, or in person from an authorised agent at the standard price. A plastic card can take up to four weeks to arrive by post. The licence can be pre-dated up to three months ahead.
Buy from the agency or its official portal, linked in the sources below. A site that adds a processing fee on top of the agency price is a reseller.
Victoria runs the simplest system on the mainland: a single Recreational Fishing Licence that covers every method in every public water, from the snapper grounds of Port Phillip to the trout lakes of the high country and the Murray cod water on the border. If you are fishing, collecting bait, yabbying or even carrying a rod next to the water, you hold one unless an exemption applies, and the licence is yours alone; it cannot be passed to a mate for the afternoon.
Prices reset every 1 July, and the 2026/2027 schedule gives four choices: three days for A$10.00, 28 days for A$24.70, a year for A$40.80 and three years for A$111.20, all bought online through Service Victoria. Buying from an authorised agent instead, usually a tackle shop, adds a couple of dollars to the year and three-year options (A$43.30 and A$117.40), and the VFA is blunt about why it prefers the online sale: it keeps more of the money in the trust account that funds stocking and access projects. The digital licence lands in the Service Victoria wallet and works without phone reception, which matters on the back beaches.
Victoria exempts more people than most states. Nobody under 18 needs a licence, nobody 70 or over does, and a long list of cards does the same job for seniors, veterans and pensioners with the right codes, as does identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The catch is that the exempting card has to be with you on the water, and that several common cards, including the ordinary Health Care Card and JobSeeker cards, do not qualify. A visitor from interstate with a Seniors Card from their own state is covered by the interstate-equivalent rule.
Fisheries officers check licences on piers and boat ramps as a matter of routine, and the licence must exist before the first cast, not be bought on the phone when an officer walks up. The Service Victoria app keeps it offline, the confirmation email counts as well, and a licence bought from an agent can be handwritten and still valid.
From 1 July 2026: A$10.00 for three days, A$24.70 for 28 days, A$40.80 for one year and A$111.20 for three years when bought online through Service Victoria; the one-year and three-year licences cost A$43.30 and A$117.40 from an agent.
Anyone under 18 or 70 and over, and holders of a Victorian Seniors Card or interstate equivalent, a Veterans’ Affairs Pensioner Card, a Victorian Veterans Card, a DVA Gold Card (TPI) or a Commonwealth Pensioner Concession Card with the DSP, AGE or CAR codes, plus people who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The exempting card must be carried.
Yes. One Recreational Fishing Licence covers all marine, estuarine and inland waters in Victoria and every method, from line fishing to spearfishing, yabbying and shellfish collection.
Yes. The confirmation email or the licence in the Service Victoria app wallet is accepted by fisheries officers as proof, as is a plastic licence or a handwritten one from an agent.
Every Victoria water on this site carries a daily report and links back to this page. The Victoria hub has today's verdicts side by side; all Australia waters are filterable by type and species.