“Victoria, Australia requires a license to make it rain”
TRUE! No person shall undertake rain-making activities unless authorized to do so. This refers specifically to cloud seeding.
"Rain-making" refers specifically to cloud seeding—artificially nucleating clouds using aircraft to induce precipitation. This technology has been around since the 1940s and can affect water rights, agricultural outcomes, and even flooding. Victoria decided this needed regulation: you can't just fly around seeding clouds willy-nilly—you need government authorization. Your rain dances, prayers for rain, or hanging laundry outside are all still perfectly legal.
Where the story gets it wrong
Many people assume this is a joke law, but it was enacted to regulate cloud-seeding operations that use chemicals like silver iodide to induce rainfall. The law does not prohibit rain-making outright—it simply requires ministerial authorization, and it remains in force today, applying to genuine weather modification technology rather than magical or supernatural attempts.
Section 9 of the Rain-Making Control Act 1967 (No. 7637): "Any person who carries out any rain-making operations in Victoria which are not authorized under this Act shall be guilty of an offence." Penalty: $1,000 or imprisonment for twelve months. The Act empowers the Minister to authorize rain-making operations to improve primary production, improve water storages, or reduce fire danger in forest areas.
- Current status
- Actively Enforced
- Enacted
- January 1, 1967
- Penalty
- Fines for unauthorized cloud seeding operations