Game Council New South Wales was a statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales established in 2002 pursuant to the Game and Feral Animal Control Act 2002 ('the Act'), subject to the control and direction of the Minister for Primary Industries.
[2] However, the review of governance, completed by retired public servant, Steve Dunn, found that:[3] "more than a decade after it was established the Game Council has no overarching governance framework; lacks a strategic planning framework; lacks some of the skills, tools and resources to ensure effective compliance with its regulatory framework; has no internal regulatory compliance program, has no approved enterprise-wide risk management framework and has an inadequate policy framework".Immediately after releasing the recommendations of the review, the government announced the abolition of the Game Council; replaced by an appointed advisory body, the New South Wales Game Board; and the regulatory aspect of the Council transferred to the Department of Primary Industries.
An annual Public Benefit Assessment was conducted, based on survey data from licence holders, that reported the Game Council's activities as a community service and as a cost-effective method of achieving its natural resource management objectives, specifically game and feral animal control.
[6] The proposal generated significant community resistance, and was subjected to a campaign from its opponents[7][8] in an environment where a group of hunters were shooting at kangaroos in a national park camping ground – an illegal act[9] – and the hunting of native animals close to metropolitan areas,[10] In January 2013 it was reported that two of the staff of the Game Council, including the council's communications manager and acting chief executive, Greg McFarland, were suspended from work by the Minister as police investigated allegations that McFarland hunted on private property near Cobar without permission, in a Game Council-owned vehicle.
[2][11] Police charged McFarland with a raft of offences including hunting without permission, possessing a prohibited weapon in a nature reserve and firing a firearm onto enclosed lands.