The winners and losers of this year's 'family-focused' Victorian budget

The Victorian State Budget 2024-25 has been labelled by Treasurer Tim Pallas as a budget led by making “sensible decisions”, with only a handful of winners coming out on top.

Handing down his tenth budget, Pallas said the budget considered two big problems; high inflation and workplace shortages, while also addressing the ongoing cost-of-living pressures.

“This budget is focused on firstly, helping families, from help with the cost-of-living, to investments in education, healthcare, road rail – we want to make life easier,” Pallas said in his speech.

We’ve broken down the winners and losers in the Victorian budget.

Unlike previous years, there have not been any “big ticket” items such as significant investments in infrastructure or health, however, there is a one-off payment that families can access that will assist with education.

Net debt is forecast to weigh in at $156.2 billion by the end of the next financial year, before rising to $187.8 billion in 2027-28.

Below is a breakdown of the key winners and losers.

Winners

Education

A total of $287 million will go towards delivering the School Saving Bonus. This will allow families to access a one-off $400 payment, which can cover the costs of children’s schooling.

The payment will be provided for every child at a government school and eligible concession card holders at other schools.

This will be rolled out by Term 1 next year.

Funding of $6.8 million will see the free Glasses for Kids program tripled, which will provide free screenings and glasses for students who need them.

A further $6 million will be invested to extend the Get Active Kids Vouchers, which help cover the cost of kids playing sports. Eligible parents will have access to vouchers up to $200.

About $21 million will enable 100 teachers to do 20 days of intensive training to strengthen their maths knowledge and coaching skills.

A total of $1.8 billion will be allocated to building, maintaining and upgrading schools.

A total of $287 million will go towards delivering the School Saving Bonus.

Homelessness

The budget will provide $197 million for accommodation and support services. This will include $45 million to expand a program that provides long-term and stable accommodation.

There will be a further $4.6 million investment that will assist food relief organisations along with providing good relief to tenants of social housing.

Family and sexual violence

A further $211 million will be allocated for supporting survivors of family and sexual violence.

This will include $42 million for perpetrator case management and $39 million for the continuation of the government’s Respectful Relationship programs, which focus on preventing violence.

There will be $1.7 billion for hospital and health facility upgrades.

Losers

Health

There will no longer be a hospital built as part of the Ardern Precinct, with the government citing that the location was no longer suitable, due to the cost and feasibility of the build. Instead, there will be the redevelopment of the Parkville Precinct.

There will also be continued work on building community hospitals that the government pledged ahead of the election. It’s unclear if all 10 will be built, with only seven listed.

However, there will be $1.7 billion for hospital and health facility upgrades.

Major delays to projects and services

The Melbourne Airport Rail project will also be delayed by at least four years.

The government says they “need to be realistic” about the project and timeline.

There will be a staggered rollout of the Pre-Prep program, while delays will be seen for mental health services.

A number of programs announced to give free kinder to children will also be delayed, with the treasurer saying workforce shortages were a key reason.

Tourism, events

There will be a drop in investment for major events and tourism also, with $183.8 million being spent compared to $469 million last year.

Casual workers, first-home buyers

While funding will continue for first-home buyers, it will end from next year following a final investment of $700 million.

And the government will also conclude its Sick Pay Guarantee pilot, which allows casual workers access to sick pay.