The 2025-26 Victorian State Budget, announced by Treasurer Jaclyn Symes on Tuesday 20 May, has contained additional funding for health and the creation of a $150 million fund to drive economic growth in priority sectors.

The Victorian Investment Fund will be used to kickstart investment in the state’s five priority sectors which includes medical research and health technology as well as digital technology along with advanced manufacturing, agribusiness and the circular economy.

The new fund will be administered by the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions.

ANDHealth Chief Executive Officer, Bronwyn Le Grice, welcomed the commitment to investing in health and digital technologies.

“We know that getting funding remains one of the biggest challenges for digital and connected health technology companies in Australia. With Victoria home to more than 40% of the digital health companies in the country, this commitment will hopefully make a meaningful difference to accelerating the commercialisation of these critical, groundbreaking technologies,” Ms Le Grice said.

Investment in support services for small businesses include the Small Business Toolkit Program, the Small Business Bus, the Business Victoria Online Delivery and Contact Centre and additional mentoring services.

Almost $35M has been allocated for the Boosting Victorian Exports Package to help more small and medium-sized businesses take their products to global markets, identify new markets and diversify their customer base.

The centrepiece of the Budget was an additional $11.1B injection into the state’s health system, taking the total spend on health to more than $31B. This includes money to open and operate nine new or expanded hospitals, a tripling in capacity of the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department and an expansion of community mental health services.

The full Budget papers can be found here.