From cost of living to health, transport and crime, here are some of the major promises and policies announced by parties ahead of the 2026 Victorian state election
See more of our Victorian election coverage
Get our daily political email, free app or daily news podcast
As Victorians vote in the state election this month, the cost of living, healthcare, housing and more are high on people’s minds.
Labor, the Coalition, the Greens and One Nation all have their ideas on how to tackle a range of pressing issues – so just what exactly are the parties promising to do if they win?
It’s important to note that not all election promises have been costed and some of the cost estimates provided by the parties have not been independently verified.
Here’s what we know about key promises across major policy areas.
Cost of living
Labor
Cap public transport fares and tolls at $30 a week at a combined cost of $397m.
Increase the threshold for land tax to a site value of $300,000 by 2034, reversing a previous government decision.
Coalition
Cap tolls at $50 a week at a cost of $180m over two years.
Increase the threshold on land tax to $300,000 in five years.
Increase the payroll tax threshold to $1.12m by 2028-29 and reduce the metropolitan payroll tax to 4.8% by 2030-31.
Greens
Make public transport permanently free.
Open 10 publicly owned supermarkets, costing $350m over four years as an initial investment. The Greens say they will raise this amount by taxing gambling companies and big banks.
One Nation
Match Labor and Coalition promises on land tax, but no deadline on achieving this has been given.
Abolish stamp duty on insurance.
Provide $300 vouchers for each child per year for sports.
Health
$1.17bn to deliver 100,000 extra elective surgeries in the public system over four years, which the party says will slash the waitlist in half. Accompanied by $195m for 500,000 additional specialist appointments.
Open 20 new public dental clinics that give Victorians access to free check-ups and treatments at a cost of $460m.
Hire 1,500 new health workers (including 750 nurses) and expand emergency departments across 12 hospitals at a cost of $1.5bn.
Increase access to abortion, with all out-of-pocket costs covered and the medical abortion timeframe extended.
$1.27bn to partner with private hospitals to perform 100,000 elective surgeries for public patients, which it says will come at no cost to patients.
Build or upgrade eight hospitals at a cost of just under $2bn, including a new West Gippsland hospital.
Open a new mental health centre at Parkville for $5m, as well as $70m to improve statewide support services.
Match Labor’s abortion commitments, except on extending medical abortions to 10 weeks’ gestation.
Create a public dental system at a cost of $3bn over 10 years.
Match Labor’s pledge of 20 publicly owned dental clinics.
Ban advertising of junk food, alcohol and gambling.
Expand pill testing and rehabilitation services.
Create a real-time view of surgical and specialist waiting lists.
Guarantee 24/7 emergency departments in regional areas.
Include organ donation registration as a step in renewing your driver’s licence.
Housing
Build 25,600 homes for first home buyers across 20 suburbs, in partnership with the federal government, to be sold at market rate. Labor says this would cost the state $499m and the first homes would be completed in 2027.
Raise stamp duty exemption for first home buyers on properties up to $1m. It’s been previously reported this could cost more than $1bn.
Scrap Labor’s activity centres, which aim to deliver higher-density apartments near 60 train stations and tram stops, and instead expand the capital city zone to allow for more high-rise development. This would include Collingwood, Fitzroy, Fishermans Bend, North Melbourne, Parkville and parts of Southbank not already included.
Sell off $1.3bn in government-owned land to developers to increase housing supply.
Commit $4bn to build and maintain more public housing.
Abolish street auctions.
Cap rent increases and legislate the definition of “affordable” as 30% of the tenant’s income.
Require a minimum of 30% affordable housing in new private developments of 15 units or more.
Increase land tax for investors owning more than $5m in residential homes.
Raise foreign purchaser duty on residential property.
Crime
Both major parties and One Nation have backed introducing Jack’s law, which would allow police and protective services officers (PSOs) to stop and search anyone in Victoria without a warrant, using handheld metal detectors. Labor has matched the Coalition’s promise to enact Aidan’s law, which would make attacking a good Samaritan an aggravating circumstance during sentencing.
Add 1,500 new police officers.
Add 200 more police reservists on staff to open or expand operating hours at police stations at a cost of $70m.
$204m on a “tough love” plan to send children who commit low- and mid-level offences to secure facilities, including the former Malmsbury youth justice centre, for schooling, drug and alcohol treatment and to learn life skills.
Introduce tougher penalties for rapists and sex offenders. Among other reforms Labor is promising a new maximum sentence of life imprisonment for rape and a new standard sentence of 30 years for murder of a current or former partner.
Provide increased funding of $10m for police mental health services with BlueHub.
Add 3,000 new police officers and 200 new PSOs at 12 train stations.
Reopen 20 police stations.
Jail people who break bail, with a one-strike rule for those with serious offences and those re-offending automatically denied bail.
Follow Queensland’s lead in banning the phrase “globalise the intifada” and introduce a protest permit system.
Introduce Celeste’s law to strengthen protections for stalking victims, as well as trial 24/7 GPS monitoring of high-risk stalkers, to be paid for by the offender.
Split the state’s highest court – the court of appeals – into separate criminal and civil courts. The Coalition claims this would lead to tougher sentencing.
$60m to send offenders aged 14 to 17 to a bootcamp, to be established at the former Dhurringile prison.
Establish an office of community safety and crime prevention, which would provide social services, at a cost of $1bn.
Raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.
Repeal life sentences for minors.
Ban the use of sniffer dogs for drug detection.
Establish a 24/7 bail court where every session is recorded.
Broadcast sentencing remarks by judges in serious criminal matters.
Make electronic monitoring mandatory for supervised bail for serious offences.
Build three new courts at Melton, Epping and Pakenham.
Introduce a 90-day deadline from charge to trial for serious violent crimes.
Trial licensing pepper spray for use as self-defence at home.
Make parents liable for fines and property damage children cause.
Education
Upgrade 19 schools at a cost of $184.46m.
Ban smartglasses in schools.
Build three new select-entry high schools at a cost of $150m.
Establish 10 new technical colleges at a cost of $222m over eight years.
Cap university vice-chancellor salaries.
Establish an office of research integrity and require full transparency on defence-linked research partnerships.
Mandate domestic, family and sexual violence education for year 10-12 students.
Ban burqas and niqabs in schools – including at Islamic schools.
Replace the Victorian curriculum.
Transport and infrastructure
Repairs and upgrades for 50 roads at a cost of $3.6bn.
Fix 500,000 potholes by January at a cost of $352m. Trial a program using prisoners for roadside maintenance.
Complete Melbourne airport rail at a cost of $12bn with some money coming from the federal government.
Duplication of the Upfield line at an initial cost of $80m over two years, paid for by delaying removal of eight level crossings on that line.
Spend $1bn over four years to repair and upgrade roads with a new government division to oversee projects.
Provide funding for regional and rural roads of $288m over four years.
Bring passenger train connections from Mildura to Maryborough and Ararat to Dimboola at a cost of $51m.
Introduce new hybrid electric trains on the Melton and Wyndham Vale lines at a cost of $1.7bn.
Pause construction on the Suburban Rail Loop to review and to divert those resources to finishing the airport rail.
Upgrade local buses at a cost of $270m.
Run regional trains more often for $245m.
Duplication of the Upfield line.
Run trains and trams at least every 10 minutes where possible from 7am to 10pm.
Cancel the Suburban Rail Loop.
Electrify the Melton line.
Complete the Melbourne airport rail link.
Create a public pothole portal to report potholes and get live status updates.
Indigenous affairs
The main issue is around Victoria’s landmark treaty agreement – an Australian first, passed into law in 2025. It created an Indigenous body with two arms, the Nginma Ngainga Wara, which provides oversight and accountability for government, and the Nyerna Yoorrook Telkuna, which conducts truth-telling.
Labor and the Greens have committed to this, while the Coalition and One Nation have both promised to repeal the treaty.
Energy and environment
Establish an antimony processing facility in Victoria at a cost of $20m. Antimony is mined in Victoria and essential for the production of batteries and solar panels.
Pause and review the Western Renewables Link (WRL), a major transmission line meant to carry renewable energy from the regions into Melbourne.
Reverse the ban on gas connections for new homes.
Cancel the WRL and VNI West – a transmission line project connecting Victoria to New South Wales – and scrap any associated fines to land owners who refused access to their properties.
Clean up the Yarra and make it safe to swim in by 2036 at a cost of $70m.
Ban single-use plastics such as soy sauce fish, bread tags, coffee cups, produce bags and vegetable stickers.
Increase the bottle and can refund scheme from 10c to 20c per item returned.
Create a green power voucher scheme, which would provide money to buy energy-efficient appliances and upgrades. The Greens have committed $500m to this.
Establish a public energy retailer.
Back both the VNI West and WRL transmission lines.
Repeal Victoria’s nuclear ban.
Scrap net zero targets.
Scrap both the VNI West and WRL.
