Victorian State Budget 2019

What it means for you

The 2019-20 State Budget was delivered on Monday 27 May 2019 by Tim Pallas MP, Treasurer of the State of Victoria.

Below is an overview of the key proposals that relate to education, healthcare, aged care and taxation.

Note: the measures outlined in the Budget are yet to be legislated.

EDUCATION

Note: Education funding is an increase on last year. There are still Gonski funding commitments yet to be decided with the federal government.

Kindergartens: $882 million to assist with the rollout of three-year-old kindergarten for every Victorian child by 2022.

Schools: $1.4 billion to keep building and upgrading Victorian schools, which includes:

• Building 17 new schools.
• Upgrading a total of 109 schools.
• Expanding the School Breakfast Clubs program for kids.

TAFE: $132 million to provide more modern facilities and extra courses added to the Free TAFE list.

Special needs students: $180 million will go towards supporting students living with disability, through the Program for Students with Disabilities.

Bullying: $5.8 million in funding to help stamp out bullying in schools.

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HEALTHCARE

Nurses and midwives: $64.4 million to be put towards an extra 542 nurses and midwives in hospitals.

Paramedics: $299 million to deliver 23 new ambulances and 90 new paramedics.

Hospital expansion: $1.6 billion to build and expand hospitals and local healthcare services, which includes $1.4 billion allocated to complete the Footscray Hospital, as well as an expansion of the emergency department at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Mental health: $173 million in extra support, which includes:

• $23.3 million for an extra 28 impatient beds across the state.
• $8.5 million to support Aboriginal people with moderate to severe mental illness.
• $5.7 million for the Mental Health Complaints Commissioner.

Emergency services: $60 million to increase the retirement benefits for police and emergency services workers.

Dental for students: $322 million to contribute towards the rollout of free dental care for students at government schools.

New parents: $214 million to be delivered to supporting new parents and their baby, including home-based sleep support.

Patients in regional Victoria:

• $136 million to help deliver 500,000 extra appointments with medical specialists.
• $59.5 million to build a new rehab centre at Bendigo Hospital.
• Barwon Health clinical facilities to be relocated to the Geelong Hospital Precinct, with the help of $20 million in funding.

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AGED CARE

New facility: $81.6 million allocated towards a new 120-bed aged care facility at Wantirna Health.

Multicultural services: $27.1 million to be put towards upgrading facilities at seven multicultural aged care services.

TAXATION

Tax cuts for small and regional businesses:

• Payroll tax-free threshold: Increase from $650,000 to $700,000 by 2022-23.
• Regional payroll tax rate: Reduced from 50% to 25% of the metro rate by 2022-23.

Tax hikes:

• Foreign property investors: Tax paid by foreign buyers of residential property to be increased from 7% to 8% from 1 July 2019.
• Absentee landowner tax: Tax paid by absentee landowners to be increased from 1.5% to 2% from the 2020 land tax year.
• Luxury car tax: The increase means that passenger vehicles valued between $100,000 and $150,000 will be charged a duty of $14 per $200 of market value, while cars valued over $150,000 will be charged a duty of $18 per $200 of market value.

For more information on the Victorian State Budget, visit 2019-20 State Budget.

Missed the Federal Budget?

Click here to read highlights about the Federal Budget and how it could affect you.

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