The Victorian 2024-25 State Budget, which the government has described as a win for regional Victorians, will see the government invest more than $2 billion to support infrastructure, services and projects.
Here’s a breakdown of what it entails:
Youth and education
The 2024-25 budget includes a once-off $400 School Saving Bonus to help cover the cost of uniforms, excursions, sports and the extras that make school fun.
The bonus is available to every government school student, and those doing it tough at non‑government schools.
The Victorian Government is also tripling the Glasses for Kids program — reaching an extra 74,000 young Victorians across the state.
The program provides free vision screening and prescription glasses for kids who need them.
Tech Schools will receive a $14 million boost, so more regional students can enjoy Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics camps and while also delivering Tech School programs through remote and flexible learning.
Regional and rural students have been allocated $6 million to expand curriculum access and $11.1 million for locally driven projects across regional Victoria, supporting students to engage in education with local knowledge and expertise.
Healthcare
The Victorian Government said the budget would continue to invest in healthcare, especially in the regions, which will include spending $1.6 million to increase the number of people with cancer receiving early palliative care in regional communities.
Housing
With the cost of housing top of the agenda for many voters, the government has touted their $5.3 billion Big Housing Build which has 25 per cent of its funds dedicated to delivering quality homes in regional Victoria.
This is on top of the government’s investment to build more homes in regional Victoria with $1 billion from the Regional Housing Fund to deliver more than 1300 new social and affordable homes across regional Victoria — designed with councils, regional partnerships, and local communities.
With the cost of living continuing to rise, the Victorian Government has also pledged to deliver an extra $5 million to support organisations and neighbourhood houses to provide food relief, as well as continuing the work of our six regional food relief hubs.
Transport
The 2024-25 will invest $133.4 million to further support the state’s regional rail network — including operating newly delivered train stabling yards, stations and VLocity trains.
A further $104 million will keep rail freight moving across Victoria.
This budget also includes $62 million for upgrades to make regional roads safer, including upgrades to sections of the Princes, Western and Calder highways.
With large-scale flooding set to become a bigger issue in the upcoming years, the Victorian Government is investing $964 million to maintain the state’s road network this coming year alone — including extra funding to clean up the damage from flooding.
An additional extra $100 million has been allocated to repair roads, including pavements, infrastructure and fixing landslips.
Environment
In response to the risk of bushfires, the Victorian Government is investing in world-class replacement pumpers for the CFA.
An investment of $115.7 million is being allocated to preserve the state’s forests.
Domestic violence
The recent budget invests more than $211 million to help keep women and children safe and support victim-survivors — including making sure the government’s Respectful Relationships program continues to prevent family violence before it starts.
The Victorian Government said the 2024-25 budget builds on their $2 billion Regional Package and hopes the recent budget will create thousands of jobs and deliver more homes, more tourism, more events, a strong pipeline of infrastructure projects, and great local sporting facilities.