UPDATE: The Prom Coast News has now been told there will be no further closures at the Prom over the weekend, with access to all walks now reopened.

As we head into the long weekend, the Mount Oberon Summit Road at Wilsons Promontory has been closed to pedestrian access as part of protected industrial action by Parks Victoria rangers, with the Australian Workers' Union warning that further closures, including banning public access to parks entirely, remain on the table if management fails to engage meaningfully with workers' claims.

The closure, which came into effect last night, is designed to draw attention to an enterprise bargaining dispute that a local Parks Vic Ranger told the Prom Coast News has been grinding on for 18 months without progress. Closures are expected to remain in place until at least Tuesday of next week.

The local Parks Vic Ranger, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the action was a last resort for workers who feel their contributions are going unrecognised. "We all do this job because we love the park and we love what we do. We don't want to do this to annoy people — it's a way of raising our voice."

At the heart of the dispute is a push for reclassification of ranger pay grades, with many frontline staff currently earning between $60,000 and $73,000, which the AWU describes as among the lowest paid in the parks system, despite delivering what it says is the highest on-ground impact.

The Parks Vic Ranger said the latest offer, a one-off $1,000 payment for grades 1 to 3, was unacceptable. "We also want reclassification and a wages uplift. The last agreement we were tied to a 2% uplift, this year 3% is not enough. We need a wage that matches cost of living." He said the dispute wasn’t about large financial gains. "This isn't about a big financial increase. It's just recognition for the work."

He described the reality of frontline ranger work in vivid terms. "Visitation to the park since I started almost 20 years ago is insane the way it has increased. Used to be a couple of hundred cars, now it's thousands per day." The ranger also recalled a recent rescue of an injured hiker at Tongue Point who had climbed a rock and become stuck six metres up. "We got a call at midnight and he finally got airlifted off at 4am." On top of rescues and everyday maintenance work, rangers manage volunteer groups, respond to biosecurity threats including the potential for bird flu, and are on the frontline of fire response. "We put ourselves at risk every day."

AWU Victoria Secretary Ronnie Hayden said Parks Victoria management had had every opportunity to resolve the dispute. "Our members are now left with no choice but to take protected industrial action. This is not what they wanted, but it is where management has brought us."

The formal protected industrial action includes one-hour rolling work stoppages, bans on travel between work centres, bans on acting in higher duties, and the ability to periodically close parks to public access. The AWU says it remains ready to resolve the dispute if Parks Victoria commits to reclassification alongside the current wage offer.

Parks Victoria has previously said it remains committed to bargaining in good faith and will ensure parks remain open and accessible with no impacts on community safety. Cara Schultz