Victorian Budget delivers better access to timely, affordable healthcare closer to home.

With a $32 billion investment, the Victorian Budget 2026-27 delivers a more significant spend across Victoria's health system than ever before.

This includes $1.6 billion to ensure every public hospital has the funding needed to continue delivering the world-class care Victorians rely on, supporting services to meet rising demand.

This year's Budget focuses on making access to healthcare easier, faster and more affordable to ensure Victorians can get the care when they need, when they need it.

Investing in Victorian health services

The Budget supports expanding and upgrading hospitals to meet growing demand in the outer suburbs and regions where it’s needed most. This includes:

• $284.4 million to operationalise, expand and support new or upgraded hospitals including the Pakenham Community Hospital, the uplift of the children’s emergency department at University Hospital Geelong, the expanded emergency department at Werribee Mercy Hospital, the new multi-storey building at Angliss Hospital, and the expansion of services at Cranbourne, Craigieburn and Mernda Community Hospitals.
• A $370 million investment to deliver critical upgrades at Dandenong, West Gippsland and Wonthaggi Hospitals.

Additional investments to strengthen and future-proof health service infrastructure include:

• $75 million for the Regional Health Infrastructure Fund
• $15 million for the Metropolitan Health Infrastructure Fund
• $35 million for the Medical Equipment Replacement Program
• $20 million for the Engineering Infrastructure Replacement Program
• $10 million for the Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs Capital Renewal Fund
• $7.5 million for the Minor Capital Works Renewal Program - Public Sector Residential Aged Care

A further $91.2 million will support Victoria in building our strong healthcare workforce for the future, including an additional 250 graduate nursing and midwifery positions and training programs to continue our strong pipeline of psychiatrists and psychologist in the public mental health system.

Delivering better and more responsive emergency care

The Budget includes investments to ensure Victorians get the critical emergency care they need, when they need it most. This includes:

• $50.7 million to get paramedics back on the road sooner and deliver faster, more responsive care.
• $9.7 million to improve how Triple Zero Victoria calls are triaged, reviewed and classified.
• $10 million to continue an existing pilot underway to improve ambulance transfer times during emergency department peak periods.
• $30.6 million to support Ambulance Victoria’s clinical triage team, helping Victorians who don’t need an ambulance connect with the right care.
• $20.9 million for Victoria’s Urgent Care Clinics to help reduce the demand on busy hospital emergency departments.

Improving access to timely surgery and more care closer to home

The Budget includes investments to improve access to planned surgery and the delivery of world-class healthcare closer to home – saving Victorians time and money and freeing up hospital beds for the sickest patients. This includes:

• $50.1 million to deliver 4000 more planned paediatric surgeries and $16 million to deliver 45,000 additional specialist clinic appointments for children statewide over the next four years.
• $27 million so more young Victorians can get endoscopies to diagnosis and treat bowel cancer
• $130 million to boost the Better at Home program to deliver care at home.
• $3.1 million to expand the Virtual Hospital pilot
• $20.5 million to strengthen home-based and local dialysis care.
• $8 million to establish the Specialist Advice Now pilot to connect patients with specialist care advice without long wait times.

Supporting Victorians at every stage of life

This year's Budget includes support for Victorians starting, growing or raising a family, ensuring they have access to the free care they need. This includes:

• $43 million to continue the Public Fertility Care program and public egg and sperm bank
• $249 million to support families in Melbourne’s growing western suburbs with 1,500 additional ultrasound appointments, 32 new postnatal beds and the delivery of more Special Care Nursery cots at Joan Kirner Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
• $6.8 million to open the Hastings Early Parenting Centre.

The Budget also invests in support for older Victorians to age with dignity and access appropriate care. This includes:

• $35.7 million to support high quality nurse-led care in public sector residential aged care services
• $17 million to continue the Residential in Reach Program, bringing hospital-level care directly into residential aged care facilities.
• $5.1 million to continue the Guardianship in Hospitals program.

Boosting mental health support

By strengthening frontline services and expanding free community-based and targeted care, the Budget supports the mental health and wellbeing services Victorians rely on. This includes:

• $8.4 million to deliver a new Mental Health Hospital in the Home program at Monash Health
• $125 million to open 40 new forensic mental health beds at Thomas Embling Hospital
• $13.2 million to establish an innovative Aboriginal-led service ‘The Nest’ offering intensive social and emotional wellbeing support for infants and children
• $9.7 million to continue community-based outreach and free mental health services for young people and families, including the Youth Outreach Recovery Service (YORS)
• $4.9 million to fund Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs in Cowes, Warrnambool, Horsham and Ballarat, and the Statewide Intake Hotline
• $6.5 million to fund targeted suicide prevention initiatives like the Hospital Outreach Post-Suicidal Engagement (HOPE)
• $5.5 million will strengthen Victoria’s mental health crisis response services.

An additional $94.3 million investment will deliver important harm reduction, treatment and support initiatives including:

• $52 million to continue Victoria’s health-led response to public intoxication, including dedicated First Nations-led outreach and places of safety
• $9.6 million for the continued delivery of the successful Victorian Pill Testing Service.

For more information about the Victorian Budget 2026-27, visit the Victorian Budget website or read the Premier's media release.