Victoria state budget 2023: 372 programs that could face the razor

Hundreds of government programs, worth a combined $17bn, are facing funding uncertainty, with sources saying many are set to be cut or have their budget decimated.

Hundreds of government programs worth a combined $17bn are facing funding uncertainty ahead of Tuesday’s state budget.

An independent analysis of government service programs by the Parliamentary Budget Office has identified 372 programs that have not been guaranteed funding beyond June 30.

They have cost the government $17.2bn since 2019-20, with $6.4bn spent this financial year.

It includes funding for critical road maintenance, education, domestic violence, disability support and emergency health.

But government sources say a raft of programs are set to be cut, or have their budgets decimated, in a desperate attempt to rein in spending.

The move is expected to save the government several billion dollars with cuts expected to community groups, outreach programs and not-for-profits.

“Community groups and not-for-profits who have done very well out of the Andrews government for a very long time are going to have their funding slashed,” one senior source said.

Both Daniel Andrews and Treasurer Tim Pallas (pictured) have spent weeks tempering budget expectations.

The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, and the Department of Health have the most potentially lapsing programs.

The PBO found this likely reflected Covid-19 initiatives to support businesses and to address short-term health system needs.

Programs that face being axed without further funding include the $2.28bn Meeting Hospital Services Demand program, the $190m Supporting Ambulance Services program and the $53.9m Backing Our Paramedics To Keep Saving Lives program.

The $153m Gambling Harm Prevention program and $30m regional jobs and infrastructure fund also require additional funding in order to guarantee ongoing work.

With Victoria’s net debt on track to peak at a record $165bn, and interest payments costing $10m a day, government sources have warned of a “horror” budget.

The government is expected to slash public service jobs while raising fees and charges in an attempt to start paying down the debt.

Shadow Treasurer, Brad Rowswell, said Victoria needed “an end to the culture of debt, waste and incompetence that have become hallmarks of this Government.”

“When Victorian families need cost of living relief and better services, the Andrews government will hit them with higher taxes, job cuts, and reduced services and infrastructure,” he said.

Desperate efforts have been made to keep rising debt below $200bn.

Both Daniel Andrews and treasurer Tim Pallas have spent weeks tempering budget expectations.

When the Andrews government handed down its first budget in 2015, Victoria had just $22.3bn of debt and was paying $24.2bn a year in public sector wages.

Government debt nudged $100bn last year with government wages rising to $38.5bn.

The Premier has consistently blamed Covid for the state’s economic troubles.

However Covid-related spending will account for about a quarter of Victoria’s projected debt levels by 2025-26.

“We had to go and borrow to get through the most difficult of times, so for the best of reasons, lives and jobs, at the worst of times, we went and borrowed very substantial amounts of money,” Mr Andrews said this week.

“That was absolutely an essential thing, and now it is essential that we lay down a plan to pay that money back, and that will be a feature of the budget next week.”

“Covid debt’s a bit more like a credit card, and we have to get that balance back down to zero, so that if there’s something else comes at us, we’ve got capacity to cope, or more positively, if a big opportunity presents, we’ve got the capacity to seize that. That’s what the budget will be about.”