The Victorian Government’s 2026-27 budget has been on the books for three months, but with the state election now looming, the Brolga is taking stock of what was actually committed to Western Victoria.

Money for schools, roads, hospitals, tourism and emergency services top the list, but the region was largely left without major new commitments for some of its biggest infrastructure and transport priorities.

So, with voters set to head to the polls in November, what did Western Victoria actually get from the last state budget before the election?

Emergency services

Emergency services received a large statewide funding package, with some of the money directly reaching Western Victoria.

Tourism

Tourism and the visitor economy received some of the more specific regional commitments in the budget.

Roads

Road funding is one of the biggest headline investments in the budget, but it remains unclear exactly where much of the money will be spent across Western Victoria. The government has described the package as the “biggest road blitz in the state’s history”, with $1.04 billion allocated to roads and 70 percent of that funding going to regional Victoria.

Politicians respond

Some in favour: Labor member for Ripon, Martha Haylett, highlighted the budget’s “real outcomes across our region, including major school upgrades and cost of living relief”. 

And those against? For Polwarth MP Richard Riordan, the budget was missing key investment.

🗣️ “There is a Colac Otway shaped black hole in the 2026-27 Victorian Budget, with little dedicated funding set aside for the region’s priority projects,” Riordan said in a statement in May.

Full story below.

“You walk into an emergency anywhere in Australia today, including Ballarat, you will find patients being talked about by their carers and family and doctors as if they don’t exist,” says Australia’s Age Discrimination Commissioner Robert Fitzgerald. 

Fitzgerald, whose job it is to “protect Australians from discrimination on the basis of age” - was in Ballarat last week. He told the Brolga the city's planned expansion from about 120,000 to 160,000 residents over the next 15 years will make it more difficult to spot the barriers facing older workers and patients. 

🗣️:"Growth often masks the problem," he said after a NextGen Collective panel on multi-generational workplaces. 

He said regional Australia is ageing at a faster rate, and 20 percent of these communities are over 65. He said it leaves older members of the community “voiceless” and their experiences "diminished". 

What happened? Fitzgerald is a lawyer who has worked in public policy for 40 years. He has previously held the titles of NSW Ageing and Disability Commissioner and was one of six commissioners on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

What is age discrimination? Age discrimination - or ageism - is the “unfair treatment” of an individual based solely on their age due to a number of stereotypes and false ideas. 

Fitzgerald said it is the most reported type of discrimination, but least likely to be mentioned in formal complaint processes in the workplace. 

Healthcare: He said ageism is “rife within the healthcare system”, and “older people’s voices are not heard or listened to in the same way as young voices”. 

Employment: In the workplace, Fitzgerald said there is an inaccurate assumption older employees are less adaptable and “there’s no point training them up”. 

In truth, he said, mature workers “fit in very well” when they are valued, and “if there is reverse mentoring between younger and older people” and a clear pathway when retirement is looming. 

He said small businesses are “critically important” in creating this shift in regional communities. 

In regional areas, he said businesses are able to “interact with the local market in a way that can’t happen in urban areas”. 

Full story below.

Paramedics across Ballarat are using Victoria's Virtual Emergency Department (VED) service up to five times a shift, connecting patients with non-urgent problems to emergency clinicians by video instead of taking them to hospital.

The numbers: Last financial year, 16,617 people throughout the Central Highlands and the Grampians used Victoria’s Virtual Emergency Department (VED) service, including 9,369 referred by healthcare professionals such as paramedics, aged care nurses and urgent care centre staff.

🩺 What is it? Launched in October 2020 as Northern Health’s initial Covid response, the VED was later expanded statewide with support from the State Government, including an initial commitment of $21 million in May 2022 and a further investment of $437 million in the 2025/26 budget.

It’s particularly relevant in Ballarat, where wait times in the Ballarat Base Hospital are almost double the statewide average. 

🚑 First responders: For Ambulance Victoria crews, the VED is an option when they determine a patient does not require hospital treatment.

What they said: Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said some paramedics were using the service up to five times a shift.

VED clinical director Dr Loren Sher said “virtual care is growing and the importance of it is just making sure it’s addressing a specific need. It takes pressure off our emergency departments, which we know are under strain”.

🔎 The studies: Research from Ambulance Victoria, Monash University and the VED found 30,433 ambulance presentations were referred to the service between October 2021 and May 2023.

Full story below.

Daylesford is getting a makeover in the new suburb of Middleton Field, but a historic homestead dating back to when the town was settled remains on the market after first being listed last October.

A product of its time: Middleton Farmhouse was built in the mid-1800s during the gold rush. It’s a three-bedroom cottage that’s currently liveable, but in need of restoration. 

It’s in the style of a traditional Australian farmhouse, with a large Victorian-era verandah to shield farmers from the harsh sun. Its colour palette is also typical of farmhouses of the time: burnt oranges, warm beiges and eucalyptus greens. 

The three bedrooms run off a main hallway, and the house has an ante room and a mud room.

Makeover: The house is being sold with restoration plans from The Block’s architect Julian Brenchley. Council development application approval would be required. The plans show a master bedroom with en suite, a terrace, herb garden and ornamental garden and a double garage.

The Block came to the Central Highlands last year, with contestants building homes in Middleton Field. 

Full story below.

A fun bit of movie trivia in the video below - Darcie reels off some famous films that were shot in our patch over the years.