Parks Victoria is a statutory authority, governed by the Parks Victoria Act 2018.

Our responsibilities under the Parks Victoria Act are to manage the State’s parks, reserves, waterways and other public land. Our main role is to protect, conserve and enhance Parks Victoria managed land, including its natural and cultural values, for the benefit of the environment and current and future generations.

This project is to conserve and protect the reinforced concrete structures of the Fort Nepean forts complex at Fort Nepean, Point Nepean National Park. Point Nepean National Park marks the southern point of The Rip (the entrance to Port Phillip) and the most westerly point of the Mornington Peninsula, in Victoria.

The land is the traditional Country of the BunurongPeople whose name for the point is Boona-djalang. Evidence of settlement of the area dates back 40,000 years. There are 70 registered Aboriginal archaeological sites within the Point Nepean National Park and the Park is of important aboriginal cultural significance. The Point was re-named in 1802 after the British politician and colonial administrator Sir Evan Nepean by John Murray in HMS Lady Nelson.

Point Nepean’s coast and adjacent waters are included in the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park, while its land area is part of the Point Nepean National Park.

The Point has evidence of some of the earliest European settlements in Victoria, including pastoral activities and lime burning. Post European Settlement, the entrance to Port Phillip Bay was once the most heavily fortified port in the Southern Hemisphere. There are many Colonial and Commonwealth structures from the 1880s–1940s located around the park. The fortifications at Point Nepean include Fort Nepean, Fort Pearce, Eagles Nest, Cheviot Hill, and Pearce Barracks. They date from a range of periods and are largely comprised of massive concrete and masonry structures. The foundations on which the structures were built comprise of wind-blown sand overlying older dune sand deposits cemented to form calcarenite rock.

Fort Nepean is noted as one of the best examples in Australia of a major fort complex. It illustrates the considerable advances occurring in military design and engineering throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century and are considered to be the most substantial and extensive system of fortifications in Australia.

Fort Nepean has historical significance in firing the first shots of both the First and Second World Wars, which were the only shots fired in anger from any of the Port Phillip batteries. Fort Nepean, as the fighting station of the North Melbourne Battery also has some historical significance through its association with Sir John Monash, commanding officer of the North Melbourne Battery from 1897 to 1908.

After World War II, soldiers were removed from the forts and the buildings and fortifications declared redundant. The area remained closed to the public and was used as an occasional firing range and training ground until 1988 when, as part of the Bicentennial celebrations, control of the site was transferred to the State of Victoria, declared a national park, and opened to the public.

The whole of Point Nepean was included on the Victorian Heritage Register in 2004, number H2030. In 2006 the forts precinct at Point Nepean was included in the National Heritage listing for Point Nepean National Park in recognition of the important reminder of Australia’s defence history.

The Victorian Government recognises the forts at Point Nepean are not only a significant heritage place, but a key attraction of the Point Nepean precinct and a key asset of the Mornington Peninsula’s visitor economy. Point Nepean currently attracts approximately 500,000 visitors per year who are primarily attracted to the rich defence history within the unique coastal landscape.

The State Government funding initiative will invest $6 million total project budget over three years to repair and stabilise the Fort Nepean forts precinct including the gun emplacements. These have become closed to the public or are at risk of closure as the unstable geomorphology and the aggressive marine environment continuously threaten the preservation of the structures and public access to the forts.

The conservation and repair of these historic concrete structures is a highly specialised undertaking.

This project is to achieve a sustainable level of stabilisation for the surviving-built structures, combating the effects of the persistent corrosive coastal environment and reinstate selected public access.

Briefing Session

A briefing session will be held at Online, Melbourne, Vic, Australia, 3000 on 8 July 2025 10:00 am.

Notes: Online via Microsoft Teams Registration via the Buying for Victoria platform or via email to the Primary Contact. Teams: Meeting ID: 454 427 617 768 0 Passcode: oa7YZ6G4

Registration closes on 8 July 2025 08:30 am