We know that one of the biggest barriers to economic equity is workforce participation. And we know that some of the biggest barriers to workforce participation are caring responsibilities.
Women continue to shoulder the majority of unpaid work and care in Australia. Advancing women’s economic equity and closing the gender pay gap are critical to achieving gender equality and a fairer, more prosperous society.
ABS data shows women are more likely to be the primary carers of children as well as their ageing parents.
Over the past 8 years, the Victorian Government has invested around $8.2 billion in Best Start, Best Life reforms to early childhood education and care. This includes $498 million in the 2026/27 Budget to continue building and expanding kindergartens and government-run childcare centres.
We promised to deliver 50 government-run Early Learning Victoria centres in communities that need them most – making childcare and kinder easier to access. Four centres opened in 2025, another 14 opened this year and a further 6 are on track to open in 2027.
These centres give parents – particularly mums – choices about returning to work that they wouldn’t have without this important investment.
This Budget invests $9.8 million to continue the Building Blocks Inclusion and Improvement Grants, helping kinders to upgrade their facilities and provide inclusive spaces to young children.
We are also continuing to deliver Free Kinder for 3 and 4-year-olds and progressively rolling out expanded hours of Four-Year-Old Kinder.
Free Kinder saves families up to $2,700 per child on fees every year and enables parents to return to the workforce.
We are also providing $24 million to support increased workforce participation by delivering high-intensity outside of school hours care at 35 specialist schools across the state. This program supports students with intensive care needs, before and after school, helping their families with trusted, quality care.
We know that 70% of primary carers are women, and around 25% of primary carers are caring for their parents. The peak age for a female carer is 55, a time in life when many women may have recently transitioned out of child rearing only to assume caring responsibilities for an elderly relative or friend.
With caring responsibilities in families disproportionately falling to women, a lack of aged care vacancies and carer supports can have detrimental flow-on impacts financially, socially and mentally.
This Budget continues to support residential aged care facilities and services that are needed by ageing Victorians and their carers, including:
- $36 million to sustain public sector residential aged care services.
- $17 million to maintain hospital care at residential aged care facilities, allowing them to be cared for in their own home.
Disproportionate caring responsibilities for people with disability also often fall to women. This means they usually work less, spend more time travelling to important therapeutic supports, and take on more of the emotional and mental care that goes along with it.
To help support carers and young people in their care, this Budget provides $3.2 million to continue to deliver early childhood intervention services such as inclusive education and therapy supports for some cohorts who are not eligible for the NDIS.
This Budget also provides to develop the workforce of tomorrow, with:
- $244 million for training, including Free TAFE priority courses. Free TAFE has already helped more than 130,000 women to get the skills they need for the job they want.
- $87 million for the TAFE Services Fund, improving student completion rates, training access and upgrading TAFE facilities.
- $24 million to alleviate workload pressures on teachers, who are more likely to be women, with workload stress.
- $21 million for critical school workforce reforms that support paid placements for those studying to be a teacher.
- $8.2 million to build Victoria’s AI specialist workforce and embed AI capability in businesses. The program has a target to include 50% women, supporting them for careers in tech.
- $5.8 million for safer and fairer apprenticeships, including personalised support for women apprentices and trainees through the Apprentice Helpdesk.
- $5.4 million to provide more job security to local government workers.
- $5 million to make TAFEs more accessible for people with disability and additional needs.
Gender responsive budgeting in action
The Trade and Tech Fit career expo gives girls the chance to explore career pathways into industries ranging from plumbing to robotics.
More than 140 schools and 3,700 women, girls and gender diverse participants attended in 2025 – and more than half of them said they were more likely to consider a career in trades or tech.
This Budget provides funding of $989,000 to continue the Trade and Tech Fit career expo in 2027.
By actively targeting under-represented groups in gender-segregated industries, we can help to break down assumptions about gendered work.
Backing regional women leaders
We’re investing $279,000 to continue the Rural Women’s Network Leadership and Mentoring Program, helping to empower the next generation of women leaders in regional Victoria.
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