Our History
In 2024, the Victorian Caravan Parks Association marked its 60th anniversary.
A lot had changed since a small group of concerned caravan park owners met in Melbourne in 1964 to form a caravan park association. These pioneers elected Don Robinson as the first President and John Redding as Secretary.
Formed as the Caravan Parks Association – Victoria, and later known as VicParks, park owners paid $20 to join, with larger parks encouraged to top that up with another $20 voluntary contribution.
The motivation to form an association was to lobby the state government for an exemption to an unfair ten-metre setback regulation. Within two years, an amendment to the 1965 Camping Regulations granted caravan parks existing prior to 1 December 1965 the exemption these pioneers sought.
Today the association remains committed to ensuring the most suitable and fairest legislation, regulation, policies and guidelines are in place for park owners to remain compliant while being encouraged to develop their businesses, grow profitability and remain sustainable.
Traditional family owned and run businesses offering the quintessential affordable family holiday so many of us cherish are still very much part of the family, but as new owners enter and corporate owner consolidation continues, ew sources of innovation and best practice are lifting the caravan park holiday experience.
As an industry, we’ve also welcomed the rise of a different form of caravan park – residential land lease developments, and the opportunity they provide the association to advocate beyond tourism.
Catering for the ‘right-sizer’, these affordable, low maintenance, community focused, sometimes lavishly appointed, communities are in significant demand as large numbers of people head towards retirement. These communities are also well placed to support the Victorian Government’s ambitious affordable housing goals.
In late 2024, the association announced a change in trading name to Caravan & Residential Parks Victoria (CRPVic) in recognition of the association’s growing focus on providing quality advocacy to both tourist and residential park owners, as well as the need to remove market confusion with the statutory authority Parks Victoria.
In February 2025, the association began trading under its new name.
