Vic Budget 2024-2025: Helping regional families

The Victorian Government has released its 2024-2025 budget and says it has a strong focus on helping regional families, investing more than $2 billion to support the infrastructure, services and projects important to regional Victorians.

Houses and homelessness

This budget will invest nearly $197 million in frontline homelessness and housing services, with more than $115 million in grants available for homelessness services – while a further $19 million will increase response times for repairs and maintenance in the public housing will improve.

The $5.3 billion housing development is already giving more Victorians a place to call home – with 25 per cent of that fund going towards delivering quality homes in regional Victoria.

This is in addition to an investment to build more homes in regional Victoria with $1 billion from the Regional Housing Fund to deliver more than 1,300 new social and affordable homes in regional Victoria – designed in collaboration with councils, regional partnerships and local communities.

As the cost of living continues to rise, the state government said it is also providing an additional $5 million to support organizations and community centers in providing food assistance, and to continue the work of its six regional food assistance centers.

Workforce

As it delivers the things that matter most to families, the government has said it must be disciplined and sensible in responding to the challenges ahead.

Victoria’s economy is expected to outpace all other states in the next five years. And more than 170,000 jobs have been created in regional Victoria over the past nine years, with unemployment falling to historically low levels.

The state government recognized it’s a good problem to have – knowing thousands of Victorians are finding safe and fulfilling work every month.

But it also means that the state needs more workers in some priority sectors. That’s why the government has said it must make sensible and modest adjustments to the pace of some of its biggest projects and reforms to give Victoria’s workforce time to build up and acquire skills, and to enable global supply chains to catch up on their backlog.

For this reason, the Budget aims to continue building the pipeline of future workers the state needs – by continuing national investment in training, including Free TAFE, which has already helped train more than 170,000 Victorians.

Transport

From more frequent train and bus services to upgrading and repairing country roads – the budget allocates $25.3 million to continue operating additional services, including weekday return services for the Warrnambool and Echuca rail lines.

The budget also invests $133.4 million to further support the regional rail network – including operating newly completed train stands, stations and VLocity trains, and upgrading the 150-year-old historic rail tunnel between Geelong and South Geelong. Another $104 million will keep rail freight moving through Victoria.

This budget also includes $62 million for upgrades to make regional roads safer, including upgrades to parts of the Princes, Western and Calder Highways.

The government said it is reducing the need for lorries to travel through towns, creating better freight routes through Sale in Gippsland and making safer crossings for pedestrians at Miners Rest and Wedderburn.

Extreme weather and natural disasters

The state government said what was previously considered a once-in-a-generation flood is now commonplace, bringing record rains and causing unprecedented damage to roads.

The budget aims to help regional and rural communities get back on their feet and repair flood-affected roads. It includes $964 million to maintain the state’s road network through 2024 alone — including additional funding to clean up damage from flooding.

The Government is investing an additional $100 million in road rehabilitation, including pavements, infrastructure and landslide repair, as well as immediate road repairs within the Buchan Caves Reserve site.

It also supports the cleanup, repair and rebuilding of communities like Pomonal and Beaufort with $302 million to help the community recover from the wildfires and storms. This includes repairs to schools, roads and other infrastructure, as well as temporary housing, relief payments and mental health care for residents.

Every day, Victorian emergency services are on the front line protecting their communities from fires, floods and other incidents. The State Government has said it is ensuring they have the equipment they need to do the job, with new world-class replacement pumpers for the CFA.

Green spaces

It also creates more opportunities for Victorian families to enjoy the outdoors. Victoria has an additional 1.8 million hectares of forest for people to explore. This Budget invests $115.7 million to manage this land, keep its forests healthy and find more opportunities for people to explore beautiful Victoria.

Domestic violence and violence against women

The state government has said that as early as 2024, too many regional communities have felt the heartbreak and trauma of violence against women.

This budget will invest more than $211 million to keep women and children safe and support victim survivors – including ensuring the State Government’s Respectful Relationships program continues to prevent family violence before it starts.

The Victorian Government has also said it will have more say in the coming weeks on further measures to prevent the scourge of domestic violence, tackle toxic masculinity and ensure women are safe.

healthcare

The commitments made as part of this Budget represent the largest multi-year investment in Victoria’s health system in its history, providing hospitals with funding certainty as they continue to recover from the impacts and increased costs of the pandemic.

The State Government is funding $117 million to operate expanded facilities at the health service – including $44 million to expand facilities at Latrobe Regional Hospital, which will have capacity for 44 inpatient beds, 14 medical and surgical beds, a new emergency resuscitation unit assistance and a medical imaging pathology department.

It will also support bed-based services in Traralgon, with ten new beds to provide more support for young people with mental health problems, along with a $6.9 million investment to provide early interventions for Victorians with eating disorders, including setting up a eating disorders organization. Day program in regional Victoria.

The Victorian Government has said that equality is non-negotiable no matter where one lives, and as such it is continuing its national support for the state’s LGBTIQA+ communities, with a gender affirming clinic in Ballarat to ensure trans and gender diverse Victorians get the health care they deserve.

The budget also allocates $5.7 million for the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies initiative – available in nine locations across regional Victoria – to ensure Victorians get the best possible support during and after their pregnancy.

In addition to the historic redevelopment of Ballarat Base Hospital, we are investing $5.4 million in the creation of a mental health, alcohol and other drug emergency department.

The government also wants to ensure Victorians get the care and comfort they deserve at the end of life, with $1.6 million to increase the number of people with cancer receiving early palliative care in regional communities.

The Government recently announced a major statewide action plan that provides a health-led approach to reducing drug harm across the state – and this includes grants available for community-led health services in Victorian regions.

Schools

This budget will also provide a one-time $400 school savings bonus to help cover the costs of uniforms, field trips, sports and the extras that make school fun. This payment is available to every student in a government school and to students in non-government schools. It is intended to give families in the region one less thing to worry about.

The Victorian Government is also tripling the Glasses for Kids program – reaching an additional 74,000 young Victorians across the state – by offering free vision screening and prescription glasses to children who need them. It is also providing further Get Active Kids vouchers, which can help families cover the costs of children’s sports with up to $200.

In addition to direct support for living costs, the Government is continuing to build schools in regional Victoria, with four brand new primary schools in some of Victoria’s fastest growing areas: Greater Geelong, Wodonga and Mitchell Shire.

The state government has said that good education starts with great facilities. That’s why it has committed $40 million to upgrade and modernize seven schools, including schools in Traralgon, Beechworth, Swan Hill and Cobden.

The budget also provides $14 million for technology schools, to help reach more regional students with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) camps and offering technology school programs through flexible remote learning.

To ensure that distance is not a barrier to students studying the things they want, the budget allocates $6 million to expand access to the curriculum for rural and regional students, and $11.1 million for locally led projects in regional Victoria, supporting students to become involved in education with local knowledge and expertise.

This includes supporting One Red Tree to train psychologists to work in schools in Ararat, the Farm My School program on the Bellarine Peninsula that teaches children about growing healthy food, and on the Great South Coast of Victoria supports the Budget Beyond the Bell to Support children with challenges outside the classroom.

The State Government continues to invest in healthcare in Victorian schools – ensuring students have access to doctors, nurses, speech therapists and social workers at school – and supporting community-based education projects with $8.4 million.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said this is her first budget as premier and she is proud to say it is a budget that is all about helping regional families.

“Many regional families are having a hard time at the moment. With this budget we are helping to relieve that pressure and giving families one less thing to worry about,” said Prime Minister Allan.

“We always deliver to the Victoria region. This Budget continues our record of investing in regional Victoria and delivering more schools and better healthcare for families, closer to home.”

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