A strong regional Victoria

At a glance

Regional Victoria is the beating heart of our state – and this Budget is focused on what matters for the people who call it home.

From our regional centres to farming towns to coastal communities and everything in between, we’re investing in the services and infrastructure regional Victorians rely on.

This year’s Budget invests in regional road and rail, better hospitals, building and modernising schools and strengthening our regional communities.

We’re backing local jobs and local businesses too, with investments that grow regional economies and create more opportunities close to home.

With this Budget, we’re making sure regional Victoria continues to be a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Regional healthcare and hospitals

No matter where you live, every Victorian should have access to reliable, quality healthcare.

It’s why with this Budget, we’re continuing to invest in regional hospitals, support our regional nurses and midwives, and make sure that, in an emergency, regional Victorians are getting the lifesaving care they need.

This includes:

• $84 million for regional and rural ambulances. This will maintain 15 regional dual paramedic ambulance crews upgraded from single paramedic crews, 4 24-hour ambulance branches upgraded from on-call after hours, and 4 rural Peak Period Units to bolster services during periods of high demand.
• $52 million to deliver new and upgraded medical equipment, supporting operating suites, emergency departments, surgical wards, intensive care units and neonatal and maternity services in hospitals across the state.
• $12 million to support the opening of the redeveloped Maryborough and District Hospital, with a new urgent care centre, new birthing suites, a 32-bed inpatient unit, 2 operating theatres, and a day medical centre with imaging and pathology services.
• $27 million will continue 12 Urgent Care Clinics across our state, including in Baw Baw, Latrobe, Mildura, Wodonga and Warrnambool.
• $6.6 million to support and develop skills for nurses and midwives in rural areas.

This Budget also delivers funding to support the opening and operationalising of the expanded Paediatric Emergency Department at University Hospital Geelong, additional Short Stay Unit beds at Albury Wodonga Regional Hospital as well as Swan Hill District Health’s newly opened and redeveloped Emergency Department.

Regional communities will also benefit from continued support of our network of Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals, which provide free mental health care to Victorians – without the need for a referral or a Medicare card.

An investment of more than $300 million will ensure ongoing access to vital mental health beds, including operationalising 30 beds in our new regional Youth Prevention and Recovery Care centres in Geelong, Shepparton and Ballarat.

A further $1 million will support QHub, to provide mental health and wellbeing services for LGBTIQA+ young people in regional Victoria.

Regional transport

Our regional transport network connects people to jobs, services and opportunities.

It’s why we’ve upgraded every regional passenger line in Victoria, introduced fairer fares for country passengers, and continued rebuilding, repairing and resurfacing roads across our state.

The Government has stepped up the amount of road maintenance across the state, including roads damaged by floods. We’re continuing this important work to make the state’s roads safer for all.

Regional drivers will benefit from $976 million in total investment in 2025-26, delivering a Better Roads Blitz to fix potholes and resurface roads across our state.

And we’re delivering $81 million to make roads in regional communities safer, including:

• Rehabilitation of the San Remo Bridge connecting Phillip Island to the mainland.
• Strengthening the Mt Emu Creek Bridge on the Princes Highway West in Terang to accommodate high productivity freight vehicles.
• Safety upgrades on the Princes Highway East in Lakes Entrance.

This Budget also delivers a more reliable rail and bus network for regional Victorians with:

• $270 million to maintain our V/Line network, helping to ensure a reliable, safe and comfortable trip for passengers.
• $103 million to keep freight rail moving across our state.
• $52 million to boost regional train services, delivering more carriages on Bendigo weekend services, extra peak hour Seymour services, and 40-minute interpeak services to and from Traralgon, enabled by the Gippsland Line Upgrade.
• $1.4 million to continue the Woodend and Yarrawonga FlexiRide bus services.

Regional kids and classrooms

Every young Victorian deserves a great start in life. And by investing in regional schools, we’re helping to make sure that every child can reach their full potential.

This Budget continues our investment in regional kids and classrooms. This includes:

• $111 million for upgrades at 12 regional schools.
• Providing specialist science, arts and English programs – including the John Monash Science School Regional Science Exchange Program – for regional and rural students.
• Supporting the new Warrnambool Tech School, servicing 5 local government areas in western Victoria.

This Budget also delivers a further $2 billion to improve early childhood learning, including for kids in regional Victoria:

• Free Kinder for 3 and 4-year-olds across our state, saving families up to $2,600 a year for each child.
• Up to 15 hours of kindergarten for 3-year-olds, with the statewide rollout reaching regional communities first.
• Transitioning 4-year-old kindergarten to Pre-Prep, which provides up to 30 hours of play-based learning. Pre-Prep is already available in Ararat, Gannawarra, Hindmarsh, Murrindindi, Northern Grampians and Yarriambiack, and will expand across the state over the next decade – reaching regional communities first.
• Delivering 50 government owned and run Early Learning and Childcare Centres – including communities in regional Victoria. Eaglehawk North and Murtoa have already opened their doors, giving families more choices to return to work or study. More centres in Clunes, Numurkah, Portland South, Shepparton, Teesdale and Wedderburn are currently under construction to open next year.

Investing in regional TAFE

We’re continuing to invest in on our regional TAFEs and students, with $11 million to increase training capacity at The Gordon TAFEs’ Geelong campus, South West TAFEs’ Hamilton campus, and Federation University TAFE campuses in Ballarat and Mt Helen.

Upgrades at South West TAFE Hamilton campus will enable increased volume of training delivered from the campus, particularly for healthcare courses, responding to local skills need.

The Gordon’s Geelong campus and Federation University TAFE campuses will also be expanded to train more students.

This investment will increase teaching floorspace at TAFE, supporting access to TAFE across different geographic areas, and ensure TAFEs can continue delivering the skills of the future.

Investing in our beautiful state

Every corner of regional Victoria offers something special. From the coast to the High Country, regional Victoria is not only a fantastic place to live, but a huge drawcard for visitors.

Tourism in regional Victoria injects billions of dollars into our economy ever year, and helps local communities flourish.

That’s why we’re investing a further $60 million in our beautiful backyard, including:

• $17 million for our Landcare and Coastcare volunteer programs, supporting the passionate locals who protect our environment and care for the land and coastlines we all love.
• $11 million to open and operate the Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Event Centre.
• $8.4 million to continue joint land management of the Barmah National Park in partnership with the Yorta Yorta people.
• $11 million for Victoria’s regional tourism boards and visitor economy partnerships.
• $6 million to support nature-based tourism and the environment along the Great Ocean Road. This includes $2.3 million to complete the new Twelve Apostles Visitor Experience Centre.
• $5.2 million towards stocking 10 million fish in Victoria’s waterways in 2025-26, and to operate the expanded Arcadia and Snobs Creek hatcheries. This supports the $2.3 billion annual contribution to the Victorian economy from recreational fishing.

And after a one-off summer boost – where we made camping free at 131 campgrounds across our state – we’re investing a further $11 million to ensure families can continue to enjoy half-price camping until mid-2027. Since we brought in half-price camping in 2019, campers have saved more than $25 million in booking fees.

Backing regional economies and regional jobs

Regional businesses have the lowest payroll tax rate in the nation, while employment has grown by 20.2% in regional communities since we came to government.

But when it comes to backing regional communities – we know there’s more to do.

It’s why, as part of the Economic Growth Statement, the Victorian Government set out growing regional economies as one of its 4 key actions.

With work well underway to progress all 40 plus of its initiatives, this Budget delivers $240 million to fund the Economic Growth Statement – in full.

From a faster Environmental Effects Statement process, unlocking more industrial land, extending the Resources Victoria Approvals Coordinator and the reduction of regulators and red tape – these reforms will reach every part of regional Victoria.

At the same time, we’re delivering the targeted investments that we know will make a difference to regional economies:

• $50 million regional stream of the new Victorian Investment Fund, dedicated to supporting fast growing businesses to enhance economic development, generating capital investment and new jobs in regional cities and towns.
• $10 million to unlock trunk infrastructure – things like water supply, sewerage, roads and electricity – to open up more industrial land across regional Victoria.
• $400,000 to pilot new Regional Launching Pads, offering new shared spaces, enabling regional businesses, entrepreneurs and investors to meet, work and collaborate.
• Up to $7 million to boost destination marketing across Victoria through a cooperative fund.
• Delivering simpler, smarter regulation in regional Victoria to make it easier for regional businesses to set up, operate and grow.

And as one of Victoria’s priority sectors, this Budget invests a further $54 million in agribusiness and food and fibre. This will fund projects to manage pests and maintain our strong biosecurity arrangements, support animal welfare, research into emissions reduction technologies in agriculture and support to develop the hemp industry.

Regional food relief

An investment of $6 million will help the state’s 6 regional Foodshares – located in Albury–Wodonga, Bendigo, Geelong, Mildura, Shepparton and Warrnambool – provide food to families in need.

Funding will help source, sort and store large quantities of rescued and donated food for distribution to frontline community organisations. It will deliver food to the communities who need it most, including through mini-marts, social supermarkets and food pantries.