What the NSW budget means for western Sydney

People living in the western half of Sydney comprise about a third of the state’s population – a fact often repeated by advocates who for years have complained that governments have failed to adequately invest in the region.

But after the NSW government handed down its budget for the next financial year, will the tide finally change?

The 2025-2026 budget papers.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

There’s nothing flashy in this budget, one characterised by Treasurer Daniel Mookhey as focusing more on poles and pipes than metros and motorways. But there’s a bit more money for two new schools in the region, and a significant investment in road upgrades, as well as a statewide focus on water infrastructure.

This is what western Sydney residents need to know about the budget:

Health

• An additional $700 million will be spent on the Bankstown Hospital development. The government’s total spending on the precinct is now at $2 billion. It’s due to open by 2031.
• A statewide pathology hub will be developed at Westmead’s health campus, for $492 million.
• Rouse Hill Hospital will have a full birthing suite after it was initially announced that it would open without one. It will cost $90 million.
• The Kookaburra Centre, providing care for young patients with chronic, complex or rare health conditions, will be established at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead at a cost of $40.1 million.

The site of the future Rouse Hill Hospital.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Transport

• The toll cap, which effectively limits toll road payments to $60 a week, will end as planned at the end of this year. The government is attempting to come to an agreement with toll providers for a reform of the system after that.
• The booming north-west growth area, stretching from Marsden Park to Box Hill, is the focus of significant road upgrades. Just over $99 million has been allocated to the planning and construction of upgrades to Richmond Road, with additional federal funding. In Riverstone, $9.35 million has been allocated to planning for the extension of Garfield Road East. Hill Road will be upgraded, with 40 million allocated this financial year, and construction to end in 2028.
• Western Sydney International Airport will get $835 million of extra funding, including for a fire brigade, 1000 new road signs, and traffic signals at Elizabeth Drive and Luddenham Road.
• Planning, costing $10 million, will commence for the roads around the future Rouse Hill Hospital to increase road capacity and safety improvements.
• Direct bus services between Parramatta and the CBD, via Ryde, will return.

The new terminal at Western Sydney Airport.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Education

• A new public school will open in Emerald Hills, near Leppington. Another will open in Grantham Farm in the north-west. Both will open in 2028.
• Newington Public School and Excelsior Public School will both receive major upgrades.
• TAFE’s Bankstown campus will be relocated, at a cost of $100 million, for the new hospital.

Environment

• The government will spend $5.2 million to keep Penrith Beach open for the next two summers.
• Parramatta Park will undergo a major renewal process at a cost of $1 million.

The Sydney Morning Herald has opened its bureau in the heart of Parramatta. Email [e-mail] with news tips.