Analysis: 2025-26 Victorian Budget

Many front-line homelessness services have retained funding. Given expected cuts, we are relieved the government has confirmed many critical programs will continue. There is $61.2m in 2025-26 over three years allocated to homelessness services. There are no new investments to expand services.

Critical programs re-funded:

In a housing and homelessness crisis, this is the bare minimum. Victoria’s youth homelessness rates are critical- with 7,628 young people homeless on census night, they make up 25% of people experiencing homelessness.  

Content warning: discussion of suicide and mental-ill health.

Young people are at the frontline of Australia’s mental-ill health crisis, with almost 2 in 5 young people having experience of mental health issues – an increase of 50% over the last decade, and made worse by the continued impacts of COVID-19 and the rising cost of living.

Current access barriers across the system – particularly in rural and regional communities – mean many young people are accessing support way too late, at the point of acute or crisis intervention.

We therefore welcome specific funding for youth mental health services, supporting our recommendation to invest in youth-led, place-based mental health support. This includes the $28.3m in 2025-26 over two years to continue the delivery of mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people through the Youth Outreach Recovery Support, Youth Live4Life, and Healthy Equal Youth programs.

Investments in young people’s mental health services also include:

• $308.9m in 2025-26 over four years for mental health bed-based services, to operationalise 30 new regional Youth Prevention and Recovery Care (YPARC) beds in Geelong, Shepparton and Ballarat from July 2026.
• $7.5m in 2025-26 over two years to support groups disproportionately impacted by suicide, including young people, LGBTIQA+ people, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Programs supported include Strong Brother Strong Sister, Yarning Safe N Strong, LGBTIQA+ Aftercare, and the HOPE program.

Further investments to the mental health system includes: 

• $47.1m in 2025-26 over four years to support Victoria’s mental health workforce through the continuation of the psychology registrar program, including the Junior Medical Officer psychiatry rotations program.
• $27.2m in 2025-26 over four years for specialist community mental health and prevention programs, including the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Foundation House, Drummond Street Q space, and Rainbow Door.
• $10.1m in 2025-26 over two years for support for people with lived experience of mental illness or caring for someone with lived experience. These services include Satellite Foundation and the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC).

Disappointingly, this budget saw the discontinuation of funding for Orygen’s Moderated Online Social Therapy (MOST) program. With the introduction of the Social Media Minimum Age bill, it’s essential children and young people have access to safe, inclusive, trusted online supports.

We are also disappointed in failure to invest in all remaining recommendations in the Royal Commission – including for a lived experience agency, funding for the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Strategy, and the 500 supported housing places for young people.

Over the last 18 months, the pace of mental health reform has slowed significantly – with those in the mental health sector expressing confusion and frustration over the lack of transparency of reform.

While the $34.4m in 2025-26 over two years to expand Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals Services is needed, these services are for those over 26 years. We will continue to advocate for increased investment in tailored youth mental health supports and services beyond the headspace model, both in community and schools.

Read more from the mental health sector:

• Mental Health Victoria
• cohealth
• Mind Australia

The government has announced some welcome measures to help ease cost-of-living pressures, particularly for households struggling with rising utility costs and food insecurity:

• $50.6m in 2025-26 for one year for a Power Saving Bonus. Eligible households with a concession card will be able to access a $100 Power Saving Bonus through the package.
• $17.9m in 2025-26 over three years to strengthen food security across Victoria, including support for Regional Foodshares in six regions and funding for Foodbank Victoria.
• $5.2 in 2025-26 over four years to provide more no-interest loans and affordable financial services to vulnerable Victorians, through the Good Money program.

While these initiatives are positive steps, especially for families and concession card holders, young people remain largely excluded from this support. Our cost-of-living crisis is having a significant impact on all Victorians, but young people are doing in particularly tough.  

It’s disappointing that, aside from the free public transport for children announcement, there are no targeted measures to support young people’s financial security and wellbeing - particularly in the context of a housing crisis and escalating cost-of-living pressures.

We are pleased to see Victorian peak youth bodies and community organisations receive continued funding for their programs, including Koorie Youth Council, Centre for Multicultural Youth, the Youth Support & Advocacy Service, and YouthLife4Life.

YACVic Rural and the Healthy Equal Youth program have received funding to continue place-based programs supporting rural and regional young people, including the LGBTIQA+ community.

However, these programs are subject to two-year funding cycles, resulting in insecure workforce and service development. Youth and community organisations need dedicated, sustainable funding to provide certainty for both the young people our services support, and for the staff who provide these crucial services. Youth and community services staff, like any other Victorians, are looking for long term employment and stability whilst enduring this cost-of-living crisis.

We welcome the investment of $15.6m over five years starting in 2024-25 for Locally Driven Education Programs delivered by the community sector including the:

• School Lawyer Program, delivered by Westjustice
• Safe Socials Program
• Passions and Pathways Program
• Learning for Life Program, delivered by the Smith Family

However, in an environment where young people are hit hardest by the cost-of-living and housing crisis, we need greater investment in early intervention and prevention programs to ensure young people are receiving support when they need it, not once they’re reached crisis point.

We continue to call for funding to implement Victoria’s Youth Strategy to ensure the youth and community sectors are equipped to support young people’s needs, and greater investment in youth workers to provide essential wraparound support for young people in their communities.

Read more from the community sector:

• Victorian Council of Social Services
• Jesuit Social Services

This budget sees a huge investment in Victoria’s public transport and roads infrastructure. Many young Victorians rely on safe, timely, accessible public transport to engage with education, employment, services, and community supports, particularly in rural and regional areas.

One of the biggest wins in this budget is the free public transport policy for people under 18, especially for young people who would otherwise struggle to get to school.

We welcome the overall investment in transport, including:

• $122.8m in 2025-26 over four years to improve bus and ferry services, and to undertake a review of the bus network in priority regional areas including Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, Ballarat and Bendigo.
• $157.5m in 2025-26 for one year for road maintenance, ensuring roads are safe and
• $489.6m in 2025-26 over four years to address COVID-19 impacts on the transport network, addressing changed travel patterns.
• $98.7m for more trains, more often across Victoria, including additional train services in regional Victoria during peak times.
• $5.3m in 2025-26 over two years for critical public and active transport upgrades, including cycling infrastructure, shared use paths, and tactile ground surface indicators.
• $584.8m in 2025-26 over four years to ‘switch on’ the Melbourne tunnel, preparing for the opening of new stations and to run existing train lines through the Metro Tunnel.

Funding for rural and regional communities is particularly needed, as many regions still face service gaps in local transportation. We hope to see planning for transport upgrades continue to consider the needs of young people, particularly as regional housing planning develops.

We are pleased to see investment in initiatives that will support young people in education settings, including the commitment to make public transport free for people under the age of 18 and additional support for disabled students, with $319.8m going towards improving disability inclusion practices in Victorian government schools, a win for accessible and inclusive education.

However, these commitments must be viewed in the broader context of the Victorian Government’s decision to delay the state's commitment to fully fund public schools until 2031. This decision will cement Victoria’s status as Australia’s lowest funder of public schools and puts Victoria three years behind Queensland, which in March this year agreed to reach the benchmark by 2028, and six years behind NSW, which brought forward more funding for its public schools to reach the benchmark this year.

We urge the government to rethink the decision to delay fully funding Victoria’s public schools as this provides the best path to ensuring equitable access to quality education for all young people in Victoria.

This budget features targeted education supports for specific demographics of students which are outlined below, and we are particularly pleased to see the refunding of the Navigator program, which received $25.6m in 2025-26 over four years to support young people to re-engage with education after chronic absenteeism or disengagement. We know young people are at greater risk of disengaging from school when they are experiencing ill-mental health, and we will continue to advocate for early intervention mental health supports for young people, both in schools and in their communities.

Investments in young people’s education include:

• $30.7m in 2025-26 over four years to continue education supports for children in out of home care, including the continuation of the Education Support for Children in Care program, Education Needs Analysis process, and LOOKOUT program.
• $56.6m in 2025-26 over two years for the English as an Additional Language (EAL) program, to increase the number of students supported by the EAL program in line with growth in enrolments.
• $152.4m in 2025-26 over four years increasing the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund, providing $400 for eligible school students, to assist families with the cost of camps, sporting activities and excursions at schools.
• $27m in 2025-26 over four years to continue the delivery of initiatives under the Senior Secondary Pathways Reform agenda, including the Jobs, Skills and Pathways Coordination funding and the Victorian Pathways Certificate. Funding will also assist schools to ensure that students who leave school early are supported into alternative pathways in the labour force or further education.

Investment in young people’s higher education and training include:

• $4.6m in 2025-26 for one year for Extending Skills Solutions Partnerships, to support industry to partner with TAFEs and universities to design and pilot new short courses and on-the-job training to quickly address skills gaps in priority sectors.
• $171.3m in 2025-26 over two years to boost access to Free TAFE and training services, to meet expected demand for eligible students to undertake government-subsided training.
• $67.5m in 2025-26 over four years for school workforce reforms, to maintain current workforce reforms that strengthen Victoria’s teaching workforce, including paid placement for students completing their teaching degrees and support programs.

The continued investment in Free TAFE is welcomed and will enable more young people to upskill and develop employment opportunities, including in fields such as Youth Work. However, while it is positive to see funding to support placements for teaching students, there is a lack of paid placements for youth work students who are often key touchpoints between young people, their schools and communities. We ask the government to invest in greater support for Youth Work and Community Services students who are completing unpaid placements to gain essential fieldwork experience.

There is $1m in 2025-26 over two years for targeted investment to improve educational outcomes in youth justice to continue to provide targeted support for young people involved in or at risk of involvement in the youth justice system. As Victoria’s new bail laws become the toughest in Australia, it’s essential we see greater investment in prevention initiatives which support young people before they’re at risk of engagement with the youth justice system.

Read more from the education sector:

• Victorian Student Representative Council (VicSRC)
• Australian Education Union (AEU) Victorian Branch

Content warning: discussion of femicide, family and gender-based violence.

We are relieved to see no major cuts to family violence services, with the majority of services retaining lapsing funding renewed on a short-term basis. It’s unclear yet though whether programs have been refunded to the level they have been previously. There is a reduction in primary prevention funding overall.

$79.8 in 2025-26 over four years is provided to support service capacity in family and gendered violence prevention and response, including sustained funding for:

• Respect Victoria;
• Prevention and early intervention work within multicultural and faith communities;
• Frontline support programs including specialist case management, Adolescent Family Violence in the Home (AVITH), flexible support packages, family violence crisis brokerage for the statewide 24/7 crisis service and specialist support for children in refuges;

We are pleased to see a focus on children and young people, particularly sustained funding for AVITH programs – we know that where young people use violence, they are often People who have had family violence used against them.victim-survivors themselves.

But, there continues to be a significant gap in targeted crisis responses and case management for unaccompanied young people experiencing family violence. The needs of young people must be recognised as distinct from their parents, carers and younger children.

Other funding includes:

• $31.7m in 2025-26 over two years for family violence risk assessment and information sharing schemes, to continue funding organisations to meet obligations under the legislated family violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) framework and Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes. Support includes workforce training and change management guidance and tools to ensure that organisational policies and practices are consistent.
• $26.5 in 2025-26 over two years supporting Victoria’s response to sexual violence, to continue funding to support victim survivors of sexual violence and harm, including sustaining frontline services and delivering Sexually Abusive Behaviour Treatment services for children and young people demonstrating harmful sexual behaviours.
• $3.2m in 2025-26 over two years for Remote Hearing Support Service to continue funding for the service, providing support for affected family members (AFMs) seeking a family violence intervention order through a remote court hearing.
• $15.4m in 2025-26 over four years for Court security at newly built Specialist Family Violence Courts.
• $7.4m in 2025-26 over four years for Safe Socials Program, which is new funding for the Department of Education and Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic) to respond to technology-facilitated sexual violence against girls.

We are disappointed there is no new funding for family violence for frontline specialist family violence services. In 2024, Crime Statistics Agency in Victoria reported more that 15,000 Affected Family Members in a police family incident were aged 15-24 (this is a 7% increase since 2023). It’s clear we are in a family violence crisis, with at least seven women killed in Victoria this year.

Services urgently need increased and secure funding to keep up with crippling demand, including youth-specific family violence service responses, and information and resources so young people understand family violence and where to access support specific to their needs.

Read more from the family violence sector:

• Safe and Equal
• Sexual Assault Services Victoria

The climate crisis poses a significant threat to current and future generations, with young people bearing the brunt of its impacts. According to Mission Australia’s Youth Survey, 51% of Victorians aged 14-21 identified environmental issues as their top concern.

Young people are uniquely impacted by disasters, often at critical moments in their development and life cycles. They are experiencing multiple and cascading disasters which affect their work, study, social connections and critical resources like phone reception, internet and roads, which keep them connected to their communities.

Young people are also often well-positioned and eager to play an active role in disaster resilience efforts but are continuously excluded from decision making spaces and positioned within a vulnerability lens. The Sendai Framework (UNDRR 2015) recognises children and young people as ‘agents of change’ within disaster risk reduction.

This budget sees some investment in renewable energy, but not enough to address young people’s concerns around climate resilience or adaptation. Communities need investment in preparing for disasters, not just support for recovery.

The $53.1m in 2025-26 investment over four years to further support Victorian emergency services and volunteers is needed, but we are greatly concerned about the potential impact of the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF) levy on farming and agricultural communities, some of whom are still recovering from floods, and many facing a worsening drought environment with no additional financial support. YACVic will provide more detail on what we know about the ESVF in the coming week.

Other investments in climate and disaster include:

• $2.8m in 2025-26 over two years to boost Victoria’s emergency Incident Management Teams and State and Regional Controllers capacity to respond to critical incidents.
• $10m in 2025-26 to maintain critical assets essential for emergency response to support Forest Fire Management Victoria’s preventative bushfire services and rapid response to emergency events.
• $36.2m in 2025-26 over two years to address recovery needs from the Western Victoria Bushfires, although it is yet to be agreed with the Commonwealth on eligibility for cost sharing arrangements.
• $2.5m in 2025-26 over four years for more Country Fire Authority (CFA) stations, including a new satellite station at Wendouree, Hoddles Creek and Winnindoo.
• $1.2m in 2027-28 over two years to fund the construction of a new Victoria State Emergency Service Unit for Footscray.

This budget sees some investments in renewables for homes and large-scale renewable energy projects:

• $3.7m in 2025-26 for one year to accelerate approvals for large scale renewable energy projects, including the delivery of timely Environment Effects Statement (EES) assessments and planning approvals.
• $29.7m in 2025-26 for one year to expand the Solar Victoria Hot water rebate program, to enable more eligible households to install energy efficient electric heat pumps and solar hot water systems in their homes.

However, these investments will provide little relief for young renters, who are still calling for minimum climate resilient standards for rentals and housing.

Over recent years, YACVic has been increasingly called on to lead projects across regional and rural Victoria focused on maximising young people’s inclusion in such efforts and ensuring they play an active role in the resilience of their communities and for themselves. As disasters become more frequent and more diverse, it’s essential the government invests in initiatives engaging young people directly in their communities to ensure their views on disaster response and recovery are heard.

We will continue to call on the Victorian government to:

• Invest in the establishment of a Victorian Commissioner for Future Generations, to hold decision-makers accountable and ensuring policies provide a sustainable and secure future for all Australians.
• Establish a Victorian Child and Youth Advisory Council on Climate, ensuring accountability measures are established to track the implementation of youth council advice by government.
• Pilot the development of a framework co-designed with young people to address climate anxiety and the rise of disasters and extreme weather events, in partnership with the youth mental health sector.

Read more from the environment sector:

• Environment Victoria

Rural and regional young people face additional barriers to accessing place-based supports and services, due to the overreliance on cars as transport, and public transport services which do not meet their everyday needs. Rural and regional students face inequalities in educational opportunities, employment pathways, and placement opportunities, compounded by a lack of affordable housing in central areas.

Regional students will be supported through the investment of $1.7m in 2025-26 over two years to support outreach and aspiration programs, and $6.1m in 2025-26 over three years to support regional TAFE training delivery at the Gordon TAFE Geelong campus, Southwest TAFE Hamilton campus and Federation University TAFE in Ballarat and Mt Helen.

Additional investments for regional young people include:

• $9.1m in 2027-28 over two years for operational support for two new Tech Schools in Dandenong and Warrnambool. These Tech Schools will provide free, immersive and high-tech STEM learning programs to local students from 49 partner schools.
• $10.7m in 2026-27 over two years to continue to support small schools in rural and regional communities by providing coordinated facilities, OHS and workers compensation support, removing the administrative burden from teachers.
• $1.6m in 2025-26 over two years for regional roads upgrade program to improve safety and efficiency for road users.
• $110.7m in 2025-26 over two years for regional rail sustainability, including operating and maintenance costs for Regional Rail Revival program assets and V/Line corporate and operational costs.
• $11m in 2025-26 over two years for Victoria’s regional tourism boards and visitor economy partnerships.
• $400k in 2025-26 for the trial of Regional Launching Pads that will pilot shared collaboration spaces, delivering five regional and one metro Launching Pad.
• $84.2m in 2025-26 over two years for ambulance resourcing in regional Victoria.

We welcome the $4m in 2025-26 over four years to Regional Development Australia Committees, to support collaboration between regional stakeholders and provide advice to government. This opportunity should actively support rural and regional young people to engage as leaders within their community, ensuring their voices are heard in decisions which impact them.

We will continue to call on the government to develop a comprehensive and place-based analysis of the public transport needs of young people, through engagement and co-design with young people and the youth sector, to ensure investment meets the needs and demands of everyone in the community.

Read more from the regional sector:

• Regional Cities Victoria

We are deeply disappointed to see this budget continue to expand investment in police and prisons rather than committing to long term investment in early intervention supports for young people.

The decision to invest $727m into Victorian prisons, including funding 88 new beds in Victoria’s youth prisons, compared to the lack of funding for the promised 500 housing places for young people experiencing homeless and living with mental illness shows a disappointing focus on punitive measures rather than addressing the root causes that contribute to young people exhibiting offending behaviour.

Where there are funding commitments in this budget for crime prevention and early intervention support, these are still mostly located in the criminal legal system which entrenches cycles of criminalisation. We know that even short periods of justice system contact (like police contact or time in detention) can result in disengagement from school, family and community, and an increased likelihood of further contact with the criminal justice system.

Announcements for funding in the Youth Justice space in this year’s budget include:

• $3.2m in 2025-26 for one year for the Victims’ Legal Service, a dedicated statewide specialist legal service for victims of crime.
• $284.2m in 2025-26 over four years for the continued operations of the Victims of Crime Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), which commenced in November 2024 replacing the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal (VoCAT).
• $3.8m in 2025-26 over two years to fund the Embedded Youth Outreach Program in the existing locations of Werribee and Dandenong. Under the program, police officers and youth workers are paired to provide assessment, initial support and referral for vulnerable young people and prevent possible future reoffending.
• $7.4m in 2024-25 over three years to Victoria Police for public recruitment campaigns to encourage recruiting frontline police.

We are disappointed to see recruitment for police being prioritised over recruitment for professions like youth work, which are proven to significantly reduce young people’s likelihood of interacting with the criminal legal system or exhibiting offending behaviours, and are significantly more cost effective.

In 2022 YACVic commissioned Deloitte to produce an independent analysis of the return on investment (ROI) in youth work. The report found that every $1 invested in youth work and youth services returns $2.62 in benefits to young people and the community. This is a significant return and demonstrates that youth work is a smart investment for government while also providing a strengths-based, holistic care to young people to reach their full potential and thrive as active members of our community.

We are concerned and disappointed to see the following investments in youth justice custodial services, rather than in community-based early intervention and prevention programs which support young people before they’re at risk of engagement:

• $759.2m in 2024-25 over three years for the ‘Community Safety Package’ to increase corrections and youth justice custodial operational capacity to support new bail laws and community safety reforms. This package also includes funding for:

• a machete disposal scheme, following Victoria’s 2025 machete ban

• a self-determined Aboriginal grants program focused on supports relating to Aboriginal remandees exiting custody and Aboriginal people on bail.

• $95.6m in 2024-25 over five years for Youth Justice Custodial Services to support the operation of the Youth Justice system, including through:

• programs that support diversion and early intervention, including continuation of the South Sudanese Australian Youth Justice Expert Working Group

• dedicated and tailored support to address offending behaviour, including cultural workers and statewide in-house rehabilitation services

• provision of staff, training and support services to ensure safe and stable custodial facilities and associated operations

• implementation of the Youth Justice Act 2024

Young people exhibiting offending behaviours are likely to need wrap around support for themselves and their family to resolve underlying and systemic issues. We strongly urge the Victorian government to invest in early intervention supports outside the criminal legal system as the most impactful way to keep all members of our community safe.

We are pleased to see funding continued for the Youth Support Advocacy Service (YSAS) Youth Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) outreach program for multicultural young people.

New announcements include: $10.7m in 2025-26 over two years for AOD community support services. This includes:

• $4.9m in 2025-26 for two years for outreach services in North Richmond;
• $1.6m in 2025-26 for one year for the Aboriginal Metropolitan Ice Partnerships program;
• $4m in 2025-26 for one year to address pharmacotherapy service gaps;
• $150k in 2025-26 for one year for First Step, providing mental health and addiction support services (to support local capacity issues).

While we are pleased to see some investment in AOD, the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA) notes that this budget will not address the increase in demand for AOD services in Victoria. Young people will continue to face significant wait-times in accessing specialist support, particularly with limited investment on AOD prevention and treatment support in rural and regional areas.

Given the recent roll-out of Victoria’s drug-checking trial (pill testing), we are also disappointed to see no funding allocated to expand the trial or strengthen youth-specific information sharing to ensure its effective roll-out.

We look forward to the pending release of Victoria’s AOD Strategy.

Read more from the alcohol and other drug sector:

• Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA)

Health is a major priority for this budget, with a $11.1 billion investment into Victoria’s Healthcare System – almost a third of this year’s budget.

A key focus of this investment is $634.3m in 2025-26 over four years for opening and operating hospital facilities. These include:

• A new hospital in Footscray
• Redevelopment of Frankston Hospital, Maryborough and District Hospital and three additional community hospitals
• Emergency department upgrades at Albury Wodonga, Swan Hill District Health Emergency Department.

We welcome the opening and upgrading of hospitals, but infrastructure such as housing and transport must keep pace to support the growing demand for healthcare workers in rural and regional areas.

There is also a critical need for training and professional development in inclusive, trauma-informed practice to ensure quality care for all communities.

Greater investment in the healthcare workforce is essential - particularly in regional areas - to attract, retain, and support those who deliver vital services.

Other health investments include:

• Increased funding from $1.4m in 2024-25, to investing $18m in 2025-26 over four years to continue to expand the roles of pharmacists to treating urinary tract infections and common skin conditions, reissuing contraceptive prescriptions, and administering travel and public health vaccinations.
• $27.6m in 2025-26 then $2.4m over three years in continued funding for 12 Urgent Care Clinics to treat patients who require urgent, non-emergency care.

The budget also includes important though relatively small investments into sexual and reproductive health healthcare:

• $15.9m in 2025-26 over four years for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations to provide culturally safe care and support for Aboriginal women during their journey into motherhood. This recognises the need for self-determined, community-led models to close health gaps.
• $5.6m in 2025-26 over four years for improving women’s health funding to support the health of Victorian women and girls by improving access to sexual and reproductive healthcare.

The investment in sexual and reproductive health - particularly the expanded role of pharmacists to reissue contraceptive prescriptions and provide common treatments - is a positive step that could reduce wait times and improve access, especially for young people in regional and rural areas.

However, more needs to be done to ensure inclusive and comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare is accessible across the state, including further investment in education and culturally safe care.

Read more from the health sector:

• Gender Equity Victoria

We see continued funding for child protection and family services. This includes:

• $30.7m in 2025-26 over four years for education supports for children in A living arrangement for children and young people who can’t live in their family home. For example: foster care or group homes.out-of-home care  care, including for the Education Support for Children in Care program; Education Needs Analysis process; and LOOKOUT program
• $77.3m in 2025-26 then $12.9m over three years for children and young people in care, including for residential care placements, training support for carers, case contracting capacity for children and young people in stable kinship care, and maintenance of Secure Care residential facilities.
• $167.5m in 2025-26 over two years to continue Family services through the Strong Families, Safe Children initiative – to support early intervention and reduce the number of children and young people requiring more intensive or When children are legally required to live away from their parents. Alternative arrangements could include Foster Care, Kinship Care, Permanent Care, or Residential Care.statutory services.
• $14.2m in 2025-26 over two years to support the child protection workforce to meet its legislative obligations.

There is also funding for the Worker Carer Exclusion Scheme, designed to prevent certain workers and carers from working in the sector if their behaviour demonstrates an unjustifiable risk of harm.

Read more from the child welfare sector:

• The Centre For Excellence in Child and Family Welfare (CFECFW)

Key employment measures featured in this budget include:

• $5m in 2025-26 over two years for local employment initiatives, to continue funding for work readiness support for young people in custody at Parkville College, and the operation of Thrive Hubs in Broadmeadows and Frankston.
• $7.6m in 2025-26 over four years in continued funding for Migrant Workers’ Centre, which advocates for migrant workers and international students to be safe and secure in their employment, and have their rights respected.

This budget sees some positive funding announcements for First Nations communities in Victoria, including welcomed continued funding for Koorie Youth Council, the representative body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in Victoria.

However, we echo the deep disappointment of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) at this budget’s expanded investment in police and corrections – rather than committing to long term investment in early intervention supports and culturally safe legal services. Both of which would assist the Victorian Government in finally meeting its Closing the Gap commitments.

The allocation of $7.7m in 2025-26 over two years for VALS’ Regional Justice Hubs is welcome, however the short period of this funding poses significant risks in maintaining VALS’ high standard of legal assistance, culturally safe spaces and dedicated workforce, particularly in light of the recently introduced bail laws.

Key budget announcements that will impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people include:

• $15.9m in 2025-26 over four years for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations to provide culturally safe care and support for Aboriginal women during their journey into motherhood. This recognises the need for self-determined, community-led models to close health gaps.
• $13.4m in 2025-26 over two years for delivering on Victoria’s commitment to Closing the Gap, to enable Victoria to meet its commitments under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap to improve life outcomes of First Nations people.
• $24.8m in 2025-26 over four years for programs designed to advance self-determination for Aboriginal children and families, with funded organisations including Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to undertake child protection investigations, and the Aboriginal Children’s Forum to develop and monitor the Wungurilwil Gapgapduir action activities. Funding will also support the Victorian Aboriginal Children and Young People’s Alliance.
• $3.8 in 2025-26 over two years to fund First Nations cultural events and awards program, and First Nations organisations, including the Koorie Youth Council and Koorie Heritage Trust, who will receive support to continue critical service delivery for First Nations young people and members of the Stolen Generations.
• $18.5m in 2025-26 over four years for the Koorie literacy and numeracy program, to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Victorian government schools
• $14m in 2025-26 over two years to maintain investment in Aboriginal community-based justice solutions, to enable Aboriginal organisations to continue programs that improve Aboriginal justice outcomes and reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system through:

a. regional legal services hubs operated by Victorian Aboriginal Legal Services in Mildura, Bendigo, Morwell, Warrnambool and West Metro

b. Koorie men’s and women’s diversion programs delivered by Aboriginal organisations in areas of highest need.

• $7.5m in 2025-26 over two years to support groups disproportionately impacted by suicide, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Programs supported include Strong Brother Strong Sister and Yarning Safe N Strong.

Read more from some of Victoria’s Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations:

• VALS
• VACCHO
• Djirra

In Victoria, 12% of young people aged 18-24 identify as having a disability, yet only 10% of all disabled Victorians qualify for NDIS plans, leaving many without crucial support.

Investment in advocacy support for and with disabled young people and workers supports this cohort to navigate complex systems and fully utilise the resources and programs available – such as changes to NDIS.

It is essential disabled young people have their lived experiences inform the rollout of inclusive policies and reforms, including from Victoria’s Youth Strategy and Inclusive Victoria. Training and resources which have been co-designed with disabled young people improve outcomes for this cohort by combatting stigma and equipping mainstream health and educational workers with the skills and confidence they need to provide the right inclusive supports.

We are glad to see continued investment in the statewide rollout of Disability Inclusions, with $319.8m in 2025-26 over four years to continue the rollout of improved disability and inclusion practices in Victorian government schools, and $33.4m in 2025-56 for one year for the students with disabilities transport program. New transport services will also be introduced from the 2026 school year to meet growth in demand.

Other investments include:

• $18.6m in 2025-26 over two years for the Accessible Buildings Program to improve access to school facilities for students with disability and additional needs.
• $24.1m in 2025-26 for one year to maintain critical supports for Victorians with a disability, including the Victorian Disability Advocacy Program and supporting Victorians who are ineligible to receive services from the NDIS.
• $22m in 2025-26 for one year to maintain delivery of the Home and Community Care Program for Younger People, which enables independent living in the home and community for people with disability outside of the NDIS. Funding is also provided to assess people with disability seeking to have allied health supports included within their NDIS plans.
• $3.1m in 2025-26 for one year for early childhood intervention services to children with disability who are non-permanent residents and can’t access NDIS.

It is disappointing to see no targeted investments for disabled young people’s engagement in employment, or funding for specific youth disability advocacy services to provide guidance to young people on changes to the NDIS.

We need embedded delivery of disability-led disability inclusion and awareness training across community, health, education and allied sectors to combat ableism and improve inclusive and accessible service delivery for this cohort. This training should be co-designed, led and delivered by and with disabled young people, such as the Youth Disability Advocacy Service’s (YDAS) Together Training.

We will continue to advocate for the implementation of minimum accessibility standards across all generalist service providers in mental health, health, and housing services, co-designed with disabled people and the disability sector. This includes ensuring organisations are supported to meet new compliance standards and supporting disabled young people to realise their rights.

Read more from the disability sector:

• National Disability Services (NDS)

LGBTIQA+ young people, especially those who identify as trans, gender diverse, or non-binary (TGDNB), are experiencing rising discrimination and vilification in mainstream media, online, and in-person. Their human rights are under threat worldwide.

Compounding these issues are long waitlists for services, a shortage of affirming and inclusive care, and insufficient understanding among healthcare professionals regarding the unique needs of TGDNB young people.

The government’s continued investment in life-saving services for LGBTIQA+ young people is much needed, including the $1.5m in 2025-26 for one year to continue the QHub program and Trans and Gender Diverse Peer Support Program. However, these programs need longer-term, sustainable funding to guarantee their continued support for LGBTIQA+ young people, particularly as discrimination becomes more prevalent.

We also welcome the targeted investment of $15.3m in 2025-26 over four years for life-saving supports for trans and gender diverse young people to continue to access the care they need, including through specialist services at the Royal Children’s Hospital and community-based mental health, peer and family support services.

However, with the overrepresentation of LGBTIQA+ young people in housing, mental health, and health services, more needs to be done to provide protections and resources to meet their unique and intersectional needs.

We recommend investing in training and education for community and health sector professionals on best practice inclusive support for trans, gender diverse and non-binary young people, particularly in rural and regional areas, to increase accessibility to safe healthcare.

With the introduction of Victoria’s Anti-vilification and Social Cohesion Act, the government must invest in consultation with LGBTIQA+ young people to support anti-vilification reform and community education, in line with the Pride in Our Future Strategy.

We are very happy to see the refunding of the Centre for Multicultural Youth Regional Presence Program, Le Mana Pasifika program and Community Support Groups – which provide essential support, a sense of belonging and connection to culture and communities for young people.

Additional investments include:

• $56.6m in 2025-26 over two years for English as an Additional Language program to support school students to learn English.  
• $3.4m in 2025-26 for one year to support healthcare support for refugees and asylum seekers, including general practitioner care, case coordination, and basic needs and homelessness assistance for people ineligible for Commonwealth supports or services.
• $7.6m in 2025-26 over four years for the Migrant Workers’ Centre to advocate for migrant workers and international students to be safe and secure in their employment, and have their rights respected.
• $3.6m in 2025-26 over two years to support newly arrived migrant communities, particularly in regional Victoria.

The budget provides some important, targeted supports for multicultural communities in education, healthcare and employment. However, these investments do not go far enough to address systemic inequities. The absence of targeted funding to combat racism - particularly in schools - stands out as a missed opportunity, especially in the context of Victoria’s Anti-Racism Strategy.

We will continue to call on the government to invest in youth focused initiatives in Victoria's Anti-Racism Strategy and Invest and expand whole-of-school approaches to combat racism, including tailored approaches for primary and secondary schools – such as Schools Standing up to Racism 

See what the multicultural youth sector says about the budget:

• Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY)
• Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC)

$17.1m in 2025-26 over four years for Creative State initiatives to continue initiatives that support Victoria’s arts and creative industries, including First Peoples creative events and initiatives, funding for creative organisations, regional and outer suburban touring and activity, and the annual Melbourne International Games Week. 

An Independent Review of Victoria’s Public Service has been established. This will make recommendations to the Government, by 30 June 2025, on how to reduce expenditure on the Victorian Public Service. For example, recommendations relating to:

• public bodies and entity reform the structure and size of the public service
• other major reform to reduce duplication and scope creep.