Little Anglers Initiative

The Victorian Government is investing $1.5 million from the Recreational Fishing Licence Trust Fundto provide up to 95,000 Little Angler Kits to primary school aged children in Victoria.

The free kits provide a wonderful school holiday activity for children with their families and helpease the cost of living, providing a fun activity close to home.

Grade 5 students at all Victorian schools, including ours, will be offered the opportunity to receive aFREE Little Angler Kit. Grade 5 students have been selected based on the Victorian Curriculum focus,movement and motor development, and safety considerations.

The program is entirely voluntary. Schools were provided with the option to opt out of the program.Our school has opted to stay in the program so that parents can decide whether they want theirchild(ren) to receive a free fishing kit.

Parents of Grade 5 students can advise the school if they do not wish their child(ren) to participatefor any reason whatsoever. We support parents in making decisions that align with their familyvalues and beliefs.

The roll out of kits will occur through the second half of 2023 (16 October – 4 December) so that allparticipating children will have a kit in time for the summer school holidays.

The kits include a rod, reel with line, tackle tray, some tackle and information on how to use them tocatch a fish. Please note that the tackle tray includes fishing hooks. The tackle tray will be wrappedin cardboard and placed inside a pocket inside the fishing kit bag, which will be sealed with a cabletie to discourage students from opening their kits until they are with a parent or carer.

Kits will be handed out to students to take home with them as soon as the school receives them.Teachers will tell students not to open the kits until they are safely at home with a parent or carer,however parents can contact the school and request to collect their kit from the school themselves ifthey prefer.

The Victorian Fisheries Authority will create a Little Angler hub on their website, which will be livewhen the kits start being distributed. It will have useful information, instructional videos and onlineresources about where and how to fish linking to existing resources from Fishcare and newresources to be produced just for the Little Angler Kits program.

This initiative aims to grow recreational fishing participation in Victoria by actively encouragingprimary school aged children to learn how to fish, as well as learning more about marine life and thenatural environment.