Victoria's forestry watchdog has been labelled ineffective by academics and the Greens following a report by the state's auditor-general.
The report found gaps in key data supplied by VicForests prevented the Office of the Conservation Regulator from assessing non-compliance in the harvesting of native forests.
VicForests manages the harvest, sale and regrowing of timber from state forests on behalf of the Victorian government.
"While it is VicForests', not OCR's responsibility to collect relevant pre-harvest data, the way OCR records Forest Protection Survey Program information limits its ability to assess noncompliance," said the report tabled in parliament on Thursday.
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The Victorian Auditor-General's Office report also found the regulator's use of enforcement powers was largely limited to warning letters and non-compliance findings, and that it lacked any procedure to probe allegations of widespread or systemic breaches in forest reports.
Australian National University professor David Lindenmayer said the Victorian government and the regulator had made misleading statements which contradicted their own datasets.
"For an agency to say that they found no evidence of widespread logging breaches when the Victorian government's own data showed that there was ... and it's now revealed that they actually didn't have the capability to do the proper assessment, is nothing short of disgraceful," he told AAP.
"The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that these cases of widespread illegal logging occurred extensively across the system."
Professor Lindenmayer also questioned the regulator's independence.
"We know that there are people within the OCR that had a long history of working for VicForests ... so I would say that it's not possible for those people to be truly independent," he said.
The forestry regulator has failed to do its job, said Prof Lindenmayer, who called for the end of native logging to be brought forward from its legislated stoppage in 2030 to next year.
The Victorian government said it welcomed the report and its recognition of the conservation regulator's progress in improving timber harvesting regulation.
"We support OCR's acceptance of all recommendations of the VAGO audit," a state government spokesman said in an a statement.
"We're also strengthening the conservation regulator with new infringement powers for anyone breaching the Code of Practice - bringing its disciplinary powers in line with other regulators in Victoria."
VicForests said it respected and recognised the role of the conservation regulator.
"While the findings are not specific to VicForests, we welcome the Auditor General's report, and with it any ongoing improvements and clarifications to assist industry compliance," a VicForests spokesman said in a statement.
"We have strong policies and procedures in place to ensure legislative and regulatory compliance."
Victorian Forestry Products Association CEO Deb Kerr welcomed the report and the regulator's in-principle acceptance of the auditor-general's recommendations.
"This was not an audit of VicForests' activities per se," Ms Kerr said in a statement.
"VicForests' recent independent auditing of their highest risk activities delivered an average of 94 per cent compliance across protection of soils, water, biodiversity values, roading and coupe planning.
"VicForests is a forestry operator that is highly regulated, and accredited under the world's largest certification scheme, the Responsible Wood/PEFC."
The Greens doubled down on calls to end native logging in Victoria in 2023, and the state party's deputy leader Ellen Sandell said the forestry regulator needed the independence and power to punish illegal logging in the state.
"Labor continues to allow illegal logging, and by the time logging ends in 2030 there will be no old forest ecosystem left."
According to costings from the Victorian Parliamentary Budget Office, the Greens plan would save Victoria $205 million from 2022/23 to 2032/33.
Australian Associated Press
