The winners and losers in Victoria’s budget

The Andrews government has handed down its “most difficult budget”. Find out if you ended up a winner or loser.

Are you a winner or loser in Victoria’s budget?

Winners

Small businesses

More than 26,000 small businesses will have their payroll tax reduced or scrapped entirely when the threshold is lifted to $1m from July 1, 2025.

Nursing graduates

Thousands of nursing graduates will benefit from $37m in sign-on bonuses, with an additional $34m directed into improving midwife to patient ratios.

Gig Workers

A $9m investment will help to establish an Australia-first Gig Worker Support Service, providing extra protections for on-call workers, such as freelancers, rideshare drivers and bartenders.

Veterans

Veterans will benefit from a new Veterans Card, with the government investing $36.6m into the scheme.

Endometriosis sufferers

An additional $286m will be channelled into women’s health, including $65m for surgeries to treat debilitating endometriosis.

Kids in child protection

Over the next four years, $535m will be directed at improving the troubled residential care system.

Losers

Elective surgery patients

Victoria is again set to miss its elective surgery target after it was projected to fall short by more than 42,000 operations. Public hospitals were supposed to admit 230,100 patients from the elective surgery wait list in the 22-23 financial year, but the data shows they are expected to reach just 187,453 by the end of June.

Investment property owners

Owners of about 860,000 investment or business properties are facing a $4.7bn land tax hit over the next four years.

Medium to big businesses

Medium and big businesses will pay additional payroll tax, with the government hoping to raise an extra $3.9bn over four years to repay Covid debt.

Private schools

From mid-2024 the government will remove the payroll tax exemption for 110 high-free government schools, affecting 15 per cent of these schools, raising $421m by 2027.

Timber industries

The native logging industry will be phased out six years earlier than planned. The shutdown – set for 2024 – will leave timber workers facing job uncertainty.

Public service workers

Up to 4000 jobs will be axed from the state’s public sector as the government aims to bring the state’s public service back to pre-pandemic levels. The job cuts are expected to save $3.6bn.

Integrity bodies

The majority of Victoria’s integrity agencies will take funding cuts over the coming year, including IBAC and the Parliamentary Budget Office.

Tourism

Visit Victoria have had their promotional budget cut.