Our Strategic Plan 2023-27 (2025 update)

It is a privilege to join the Department of Health at this important point in our journey, to deliver on our Strategic Plan 2023–27. Together, we are building a healthier future – one where every Victorian can live well, with access to safe, high-quality care when and where they need it.

Since this plan was first launched, Victoria's health system has continued to evolve in remarkable ways. System-wide reforms are taking shape that will have a lasting impact on the way we deliver care across the state. These advances are possible because of the dedication, expertise, and relentless focus of our people, our partners, and the broader health sector. Over the past year, we've achieved key milestones that are reshaping our system. The Health Services Plan has seen the establishment of the Local Health Service Networks which will pave the way for more integrated, coordinated care that better meets community needs.

We're strengthening services at every stage of life – from maternal and child health programs that give children the best start in life, through to respectful, high-quality aged care that supports older Victorians to live with dignity. Our ambulance services continue to evolve, and to give priority to improving response and transfer times. We also continue to support community-based pathways so that people can get the right care, in the right place, at the right time.

Together these improvements across community, aged care and emergency care are helping Victorians to access the right care at the right place when they need it. It has been particularly pleasing to see that our Planned Surgery Reform is also making a real difference, achieving the best ever results in providing timely access to care for thousands of people across the state.

We've seen further progress in mental health and wellbeing reform, with a stronger focus on community-based care. This includes the opening of our new Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals.

In parallel, we're advancing alcohol and other drug reform, with continued investment in harm reduction initiatives and the establishment of Victoria's first fixed-site pill testing service to help prevent AOD-related harm across the community. These efforts recognise the strong links between mental health and substance use and the importance of integrated, person-centred care.

Improving health equity remains at the heart of our plan. Supporting better outcomes for Aboriginal Victorians is a clear and continuing priority. We are committed to genuine partnership with Aboriginal communities and organisations – we want to embed self-determination and build a culturally safe system that is led by and for Aboriginal communities.

We are also embracing innovation to meet people's needs in new ways. Virtual Care is expanding access across Victoria – reducing pressure on emergency departments and helping people receive care in the comfort of their own home. Digital health and new models of care are giving our system greater agility, while our growing investment in prevention and early intervention is supporting people to live healthier lives and avoid unnecessary hospitalisation.

Underpinning everything we do is the health workforce. The success of this plan, and our health system, depends on the people who make it work every day. We are focused on growing and retaining a skilled workforce across every part of our state and ensuring they feel valued, supported and equipped to deliver the best care.

Thank you to our colleagues across the department, the health sector, and our partner organisations. Together, we are working to create a system that gives every Victorian the opportunity to live a healthy and fulfilling life, and to realise our shared vision of being the healthiest people in the world.

Jenny Atta PSM
Secretary
Department of Health

Our vision

Victoria is one of the greatest places in the world to live, work and play. Victorians are innovative, compassionate, creative and hard-working.

At the Department of Health, we're focused on supporting Victorians to be as healthy as they can.

We do this by:

• developing the best health, wellbeing and care services in the world
• being at the forefront of mental health and wellbeing treatment
• accelerating healthcare innovation
• growing and developing the health workforce
• providing expert and timely advice on health risks
• safeguarding our community through effective health regulation.

Through these, and other activities, we partner with the community to help every individual lead a healthy life.

Because Victorians deserve nothing less.

And they also deserve a health, wellbeing and care system that is as smart and effective as they are.

A health, wellbeing and care system that respects them. Understands them. Prioritises them. That gives them the right care in the right place at the right time.

In undertaking this critical work, the department and our employees are committed to demonstrating integrity in our daily work through our behaviours and building and embedding this into our culture.

As a department we strive to inspire others to demonstrate integrity and serve the best interests of the Victorian community.

Our vision is that Victorians are the healthiest people in the world. It is a bold and ambitious vision – and we will not settle for anything less.

To make this vision a reality, we have 7 strategic directions:

1. Keeping people healthy and safe in the community
2. Providing care closer to home
3. Keep innovating and improving care
4. Improving Aboriginal health and wellbeing
5. Moving from competition to collaboration
6. A stronger and more sustainable workforce
7. A safe and sustainable health, wellbeing and care system

Our values

These describe what we stand for and how we expect each other to behave.

1. Responsiveness
2. Integrity
3. Impartiality
4. Accountability
5. Respect
6. Leadership
7. Human rights

Our strategic directions¹ set out what we are doing to support Victorians to be the healthiest people in the world.

Each strategic direction has priority initiatives for the 4 years from 2025–29. It also has priority outcomes that we will measure ourselves against.

Together, these can be understood as follows:

• strategic directions – what we want our health, wellbeing and care system to move towards over the next 4 years
• priority initiatives – what we need to focus on to drive the strategic directions
• outcomes – how we measure our success.

This section outlines the strategic directions. It provides an overview of the priority initiatives and outcomes associated with each strategic direction.

Note:

• The priority initiatives reflect existing departmental commitments and ministerial priorities.
• The initiatives do not detail everything the department does, but a subset of the work the department is doing to pursue each strategic direction.
• The outcomes are from the Department of Health priority outcomes framework (included in this document).

¹ 'Strategic directions' are called 'objectives' in Budget Paper 3.

To be healthy and safe, Victorians need information and tools that allow them to make good choices.

This includes navigating the health, wellbeing and care system to achieve the best possible individual outcomes.

Prevention and early intervention are central to this empowerment. We want Victorians to know how to stay healthy. We also want them to recognise early when they need to access healthcare.

When they do seek the support of Victoria’s health, wellbeing, and care services, they will experience high-quality care that is respectful, delivered with integrity, inclusive and culturally safe. This experience will extend across the full spectrum of services from hospitals to mental health and wellbeing support. It includes Aboriginal Community-Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), and everywhere else Victorians need the health, wellbeing, and care system.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who access care in the mainstream system will experience early intervention and prevention services that are culturally safe. They will have much greater choice and access to care.

The Treaty and truth-telling processes will help us address the social, cultural, and historical determinants of health and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Flowing the other way, general healthcare has much to learn from the holistic health and wellbeing principles of the First Peoples community. This includes through connectedness, community, and self-determination.

Our role is to continue to partner, engage and consult with communities. We do this so Victorians have a system that gives them control over their physical and mental health. We want them to understand the effect of harmful behaviours like drug, alcohol, and substance abuse so they can be part of the solution.

We want to work together so that every program, initiative, and service is built by and for the communities we serve.

We will work with other parts of government (including social services, education, and justice) to improve the cultural, spiritual, social and economic determinants of health and wellbeing. As the government plans new precincts, we will ensure these environments are created to help Victorians live healthy lives.

We will use data and analytics to identify priority issues. We will respond to emergencies, provide protection from hazards, and build resilience and emergency readiness in the workforce and community. And we will do it all in line with our regulatory and legislative responsibilities to prevent harm and deliver a safe and high-quality health, wellbeing, and care system.

Priority initiatives

• Local Public Health Units – Enable Local Public Health Units to deliver frontline health protection services and proactively identify, prevent, and mitigate public health risks across Victoria.
• 10-year eHealth and digital health plan – Align future data and digital investments to drive transformation of the healthcare system.
• Harm reduction initiatives – Deliver the Statewide Action Plan with a focus on reducing Alcohol and Other Drugs related harms.
• Strengthening public sector residential aged care services – Continue to deliver high-quality care and assist in meeting nurse-to-resident ratios.
• Victorian Cancer Plan 2024-2028 – Continue to deliver the Victorian Cancer Plan 2024-28 including setting goals and priorities to reduce the cancer burden and enhance care for all Victorians.

Outcomes

Population health

• Health and wellbeing across the lifespan
  • All Victorians live healthy and meaningful lives across all stages of their lifespan.
• Emerging health issues
  • The health system is responsive to local and global emerging issues and regulatory challenges.

Local communities are the lifeblood of Victoria. They are where we live, learn, love, and laugh. And they should also be where we find the health, wellbeing and care services that meet our needs.

We are finding new ways to help Victorians access as many health, wellbeing, and care services as possible in their local communities.

At their doorsteps, Victorians will find community-based services, virtual care services and modern, safe facilities. These services improve access, outcomes and satisfaction for patients and health workers across the state.

Whether in major metropolitan areas or regional and rural towns, this place-based approach links to prevention and early intervention by reducing the chances of untreated health conditions worsening to the point of needing hospital care.

And if they do go to hospital, it will be at the right time. They will not fall through the cracks or wait too long. They will move from community-based services to the appropriate hospital for only as long as necessary, before returning to home and community care.

With rapid technological advances, people can also access more services from home. Virtual care, telehealth and other innovations like wearables and home monitoring can overcome geographical inequalities.

Providing care closer to home will see improved health outcomes for Victorians in their local communities. This ranges from newborns to our elderly, from chronic disease sufferers to those contending with addiction and mental health challenges – and everyone in between.

Priority initiatives

• Priority infrastructure projects – Establish a robust, benefits-driven investment pipeline aligned with system priorities to support strategic decision-making.
• Virtual care (Victorian Virtual Emergency Department and Hospital Pilot) – Expand the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department so more Victorians can avoid ambulance callouts and ED visits and launch the Victorian Virtual Hospital pilot.

Outcomes

Individual experience of care

• Accessible care
  • Victorians can rely on their healthcare system to deliver care when and as they need it.
• Safety and quality
  • Victorians have confidence that their healthcare is safe and high quality.
• Experience of care
  • Victorians have a positive experience of person-centred care.

Healthcare innovation never stops. Every treatment, discovery and cure is possible because of the countless days, years and decades of work that came before. To innovate is to improve, and every improvement takes us one step closer to our vision of Victorians being the healthiest people in the world.

With people at the centre of everything we do, we will harness advances in science, advanced data, and digital technology to continuously improve the quality, appropriateness, accessibility and safety of care.

We are fortunate that some of the world's leading medical research teams are right here in Victoria. This means we can capitalise on the advances that are being made on our doorstep. We will also scour the globe for the latest and best practice models, and we will be a world leader in innovating and transforming healthcare delivery to improve consumer outcomes.

Our system will have a positive learning culture that encourages applied research and experimentation. Victorians who need emergency, urgent care or planned surgery will experience improved care experiences. We will prioritise, trial, and evaluate new virtual care technologies. We will scale up those that are evidenced as safe, improve outcomes, and demonstrate value. Women's health and mental health will receive priority attention in our ongoing pursuit of improvement and excellence.

Innovations in clinical practice will enable exceptional, more person-centric models of care, particularly for Victorians with chronic conditions. Data and digital infrastructure will also be priority investments that will drive proactive safety interventions. This will help us prevent illness and pave the way for seamless, integrated care.

Priority initiatives

• Access to planned surgery – Continue to drive best practices across the planned patient journey to ensure timely and equitable access to planned surgery.
• Progressing the mental health and wellbeing reform program – Continue to deliver the Mental Health Royal Commission recommendations to improve care quality, reduce restraint and seclusion, enhance safety and experience for all and expand the network of new local mental health and wellbeing services.
• Maternal and child health reform – Improve access, quality, consistency and connection of Maternal and Child Health services in Victoria.

Outcomes

Individual experience of care

• Accessible care
  • Victorians can rely on their healthcare system to deliver care when and as they need it.
• Safety and quality
  • Victorians have confidence that their healthcare is safe and high quality.
• Experience of care
  • Victorians have a positive experience of person-centred care.

Equity

• System that addresses disparities
  • Services address health inequality and respond to the needs and circumstances of all Victorians.
• Health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Victoria
  • Aboriginal people living in Victoria experience greater physical, social, emotional, cultural, and spiritual wellbeing.

Connection to culture is integral to the health and wellbeing of our strong and proud Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. We will ensure culturally safe access to holistic, safe, equitable health, social and emotional wellbeing services for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. We recognise the importance of having a sustainable Aboriginal community-controlled health, wellbeing, and care sector to achieve this. This includes strengthening early intervention and prevention.

Our continued partnership with ACCHOs is designed to strengthen and build sustainability in the sector and drive self-determination across the health, wellbeing, and care system.

Improved access to culturally safe mainstream health, wellbeing and alcohol and other drugs services is critical. To do this, we are investing in approaches that embed self-determination in all matters that impact Aboriginal health and wellbeing. We are also supporting Aboriginal research that is self-determined and culturally respectful.

We are deeply committed to ensuring Aboriginal people determine the health and care received by Aboriginal people. We will pursue this through legislative reform, governance structures and Treaty.

Priority initiatives

• Delivery of cultural safety priorities – Strengthen cultural safety across mainstream health services to deliver culturally safe care under the Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Partnership Forum Agreement.

Outcomes

Equity

• System that addresses disparities
  • Services address health inequality and respond to the needs and circumstances of all Victorians.
• Health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Victoria
  • Aboriginal people living in Victoria experience greater physical, social, emotional, cultural and spiritual wellbeing.

Together, we achieve more. It's that simple. We are not in a competition. We are partners in creating better, safer, more sustainable health outcomes for Victorians. We are in it together. And we are in it for each other.

This includes the people of Victoria, our health, wellbeing and care workers, the department, the health and mental health sectors, our local communities, national bodies, ACCHOs, states and territories, public, private, and non-government organisations. It also includes the people who are invested in, responsible for, and passionate about the health and wellbeing of Victorians.

By sharing data, knowledge, research, and resources, we can design and deliver better and more integrated services that lead to better health outcomes for all. We will have a unified health, wellbeing and care system that delivers exceptional patient care.

Data, health information and evidence will be brought together by advanced platforms that speak to each other. This will ultimately provide a seamless patient experience and improved health outcomes for individuals and communities.

As the number of people with chronic conditions that require multiple care providers increases, it is more important than ever that care teams are all on the same page and working towards a common goal.

Priority initiatives

• Health Services Plan – Reform Victoria's health system design and governance through the Health Services Plan to build a connected, collaborative system that delivers the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
• National Health Reform Agreement – Secure cross-government agreement on the next five-year National Health Reform Agreement Addendum.

Outcomes

Sustainable healthcare

• Sustainable system
  • Health resources are well managed, maintaining the system into the future.
• Affordable care
  • High value care is delivered efficiently and affordably for Victorians.

Health, wellbeing, and care workers are the backbone of the health system. The Victorian health workforce is among the best in the world.

The people who deliver care to Victorians deserve a first-rate employee experience. To do this, we are focusing on future roles, capabilities, and professional development. This includes considering what the jobs of tomorrow will look like, what skills our people will need, and how we will support them to learn, stretch and grow.

Our healthcare system is evolving rapidly, and it requires our workers to have greater autonomy and agility. They also need to be able to operate in multidisciplinary teams.

We will make sure there are enough skilled and talented people across Victoria. This includes building the workforce that supports our rural and regional communities.

Attracting and retaining the right type of workforce is critical for Victorians to get the best-quality care. This includes addressing critical workforce gaps in areas such as Aboriginal health, mental health and wellbeing, addiction services, specialist medical roles, allied health, nursing, lived experience and public health.

Building modern health and care precincts that enhance worker wellbeing and reduce occupational violence will be a key focus. We will prioritise sector resilience and preparedness for disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and other emergencies. This includes providing sector capability uplift and flexible and adaptable surge response capacity.

We know that health sector workplaces can be high pressure environments. We will accept nothing less than a culture of respect that is free from violence and other threats to employee wellbeing.

Priority initiatives

• Victorian 10-year Health Workforce Strategy – Continue to deliver the Victorian 10-year Health Workforce Strategy for a modern, sustainable and engaged healthcare workforce.
• 8,000 mental health workers by 2030 – Continue to increase the mental health and wellbeing workforce to 8,000 mental health workers by 2030.

Outcomes

Healthcare workforce

• Healthcare worker wellbeing
  • Healthcare workers feel safe, engaged and valued in the workplace.
• Workforce capability and capacity
  • Workers are well trained and supported to do their jobs effectively.

Now is the time for change. Now is the time to build on our successes. We will continue developing a modern, safe, and sustainable health, wellbeing and care system.

We know the challenges: budgets are constrained; climate change is upon us. But we also have a unique opportunity to improve the health of Victorians today and for generations to come.

What value do we put on Victorians' health? This is a critical question we must answer when designing a financially sustainable system that delivers strong health outcomes. We need to appropriately balance our delivery of services with an increasing value on outcomes so that we can improve patient care, operational performance, and system management.

Switching to a more global viewpoint, we must also reduce the environmental impacts of our health system. Victoria is home to massive amounts of property, equipment, and other carbon emitting assets. We have enormous scope to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the health, wellbeing, and care sector. This will improve population and patient health outcomes. It will also deliver savings and strengthen the financial sustainability of the system.

Energy efficiency, solar projects, reduced electricity consumption and enhanced monitoring will all be key components of reducing our environmental impacts and transitioning to a low carbon health system.

Priority initiatives

• Response to the Victorian Maternity Taskforce – Deliver recommendations from the Victorian Maternity Taskforce to ensure safe, sustainable workforce recruitment and service delivery in rural and regional maternity services.
• Safer digital healthcare – Safeguard Victoria's health services through 6 centrally delivered statewide programs and enhance cyber protection under the Safer Digital Healthcare initiative.
• Health sector financial sustainability – Collaborate with health services to drive efficiency and productivity, ensuring all funding supports delivery of world-class care.
• Departmental financial sustainability – Oversee departmental efficiency commitments and ensure targeted budget outcomes are achieved.

Outcomes

Sustainable healthcare

• Sustainable system
  • Health resources are well managed, maintaining the system into the future.
• Affordable care
  • High-value care is delivered efficiently and affordably for Victorians.

Victoria's health system continues to evolve. We are embedding lasting, system-wide reforms to strengthen health policy, planning, and service delivery for the future.

At the same time, the healthcare system in Victoria has never been better equipped. The health sector has seen incredible technological advances, unprecedented quality of care and increasing services and supports. With a world-class workforce, health outcomes for Victorians improve year after year.

Investments in healthcare innovation through collaboration with state and federal governments continue to drive progress, with a strong focus on prevention and early intervention.

Ensuring our health workforce is appropriately sized, diverse, and strategically distributed across the state remains a priority. Ongoing initiatives continue enhancing workforce capabilities, strengthening recruitment pipelines, and supporting healthcare professionals to meet future demands.

Over the past four and a half years, Victoria has undertaken the most extensive mental health reform in its history. We have established the foundations to transform Victoria's mental health and wellbeing system. This next phase builds on these foundations, aiming to address demand, drive performance, and focus on prevention and early intervention, especially for young Victorians and our regional and rural communities. We'll also continue to build and retain our highly skilled workforce and embed lived and living experience in all levels of the mental health and wellbeing system.

Similarly, the Statewide Action Plan for Harm Reduction takes a health-led approach to reducing drug-related harm. Expanding access to pharmacotherapy, trialling Naloxone vending machines, and introducing Australia's first Never Use Alone overdose prevention helpline, this initiative strengthens community health efforts. A new Community Health Hub in Melbourne's CBD will provide comprehensive health and social support services.

And yet despite major advancements, challenges remain – both past and future.

As demand for emergency care grows, the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department, established in 2022, will expand its reach, supporting over 1,750 Victorians daily by 2028-29. This will increase direct referrals from aged care, paramedics, primary health networks, and Nurse on Call. Over the past year, 83% of patients avoided unnecessary hospital visits through virtual care, easing pressure on frontline healthcare workers. The service also assists paramedics, allowing them to focus on critical emergencies.

Victoria's ambulance services continue to evolve to improve emergency response and patient care. Efforts focus on strengthening paramedic teams, particularly in rural and regional areas, to enhance service availability and reduce wait times. Additionally, measures are in place to streamline hospital processes, ensuring paramedics can quickly transition non-critical cases while maintaining capacity for life-threatening emergencies. These improvements support broader healthcare reforms aimed at increasing efficiency and accessibility across the state.

Health equity is central to Victoria's ongoing reforms. Aboriginal health initiatives focus on culturally safe, accessible services for First Peoples, transitioning decision-making to Aboriginal-led governance and strengthening the community-controlled sector. Embedding self-determination in healthcare delivery remains essential.

Similarly, women's healthcare remains a strong focus. Despite Victoria's high life expectancy for women, their pain and health concerns have historically been overlooked. We continue expanding gender-specific services, improving research and policy development, and leading initiatives that redefine how women's health issues are diagnosed, understood, and treated.

Addressing childhood health disparities is crucial. Children in disadvantaged communities experience disproportionately high rates of serious health concerns – sometimes compounded by neglect, abuse, and trauma. A coordinated, system-wide approach is needed to protect vulnerable children and give every Victorian child the opportunity to thrive.

Victoria's ageing population is growing, with over one million Victorians now over the age of 65. Ensuring respectful, high-quality healthcare for older residents is a key priority.

Access to healthcare remains challenging in rural and regional communities, where workforce shortages contribute to poorer health outcomes compared to metropolitan areas. Likewise, multicultural communities, refugees, and asylum seekers face additional health disparities, requiring targeted, culturally responsive care.

People with disability – 17% of Victorians – continue to encounter systemic barriers in communication, mobility, and access to essential physical and psychosocial support. The system must evolve to better meet their needs.

Just over one in 20 adult Victorians identifies as LGBTIQA+, yet many still face discrimination, stigma, and exclusion, leading to poorer overall health outcomes. Healthcare must be equitable – without discrimination or bias.

To further improve system access, care coordination and to provide services closer to home, we are focused on embedding Local Health Service Networks. These Networks bring health services within a geographical region together to share expertise, strengthen referral pathways, coordinate clinical services, and work together to attract, develop and retain staff.

The department will also continue to take actions to ensure that it is efficient and effective, having regard to Victoria's fiscal environment and the Government's service delivery priorities.

This broad range of work continues to ensure all Victorians can access the healthcare they need. This strategic plan provides a framework for ongoing transformation – leveraging innovation, tackling challenges, and advancing Victoria's vision for a healthier, fairer future.

The Department of Health helps Victorians stay safe and healthy. It delivers a world-class health system that leads to better health outcomes for all Victorians.

The department helps manage the public health system. This provides all Victorians with high-quality public hospitals and services for their acute health needs.

The department has leadership responsibility for:

• acute health services
• public health
• primary, community and dental health
• health regulation
• ambulance services
• mental health and wellbeing
• drug services
• ageing, aged and home care.

The department's Executive Board assists the Secretary with strategic leadership to meet the department's objectives. This includes its vision, purpose and direction setting.

The Executive Board also works to improve performance and outcomes. It implements complex reform priorities. The board comprises:

• the Secretary
• Deputy Secretaries
• the Chief Communications Officer
• the Chief Aboriginal Health Adviser
• the Chief Executive Officer of Safer Care Victoria

Each Deputy Secretary and Chief Executive Officer leads a division organised by portfolio. In addition, whole-of-department functions support the department's operations, services, and responsibilities.

Download an organisational chart and further information about the department's ministers, portfolios and responsibilities.

Our functions

Hospital and Health Services

Provides stewardship to the state's health, aged care and ambulance services and focuses on ensuring people can access high quality hospital, ambulance, and public aged care.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Leads and delivers Victoria's mental health and wellbeing reform agenda to build a stronger mental health and wellbeing system for all Victorians, including leading and implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System and reforms to our alcohol and other drugs service system.

Community and Public Health

Focuses on keeping people well and out of hospital, driving prevention and early intervention, bringing all aspects of prevention and early intervention closer together, and delivering accessible care in the community to achieve community and population health outcomes.

System Planning

Provides an integrated and joined-up approach to system planning and reform, including a dedicated focus on health system structural reform, intergovernmental relations, and action to address climate change.

eHealth

Provides enterprise technology, data and analytics, digital, and cyber security functions. It drives higher productivity for both the department and the health sector.

Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing

Centred on Aboriginal self-determination, it drives, coordinates, and advises on policy and strategic reform across government to improve the health of Aboriginal people living in Victoria.

People, Operations, Legal and Regulation

Provides expert advisory and corporate functions including human resources, workplace relations, ministerial and portfolio coordination, audit and risk, privacy, Freedom of Information, planning and reporting, legal services, integrity, and health regulation.

Budget, Finance and Investment

Provides budget, investment, procurement and accountability strategy and frameworks; and financial, commercial, and service management advice across the department.

Safer Care Victoria

This administrative office works closely with divisions across the department. It engages with clinicians and consumers to help health services deliver better and safer healthcare.

Communications and Engagement

Provides strategic advice on functions including strategic communications, marketing, public affairs and stakeholder and consumer engagement.

Hospitals Victoria

Ensures Victoria's health services are highly efficient in their delivery of care services and back of house operations and provides oversight of hospital finances and financial sustainability of the system as a whole.

We consider risk in our planning and decision making. This ensures we understand and manage threats and opportunities as we work towards our vision.

The department faces many types of risks. These range from healthcare consumer risk, workforce risk, financial risk, information and systems security and risks in being able to deliver the objectives of the government.

The department's risk management policy supports us to achieve our outcomes. It follows accepted standards and guidelines for managing risk, particularly those used by public sector agencies and departments.

We apply a three-tier approach to managing risks:

• strategic risks – risks that affect the achievement of the department's strategic priorities
• operational risks – risks that affect our day-to-day operations
• project risks – risks that relate to activities linked to election commitments, budget initiatives, and priority programs and projects.

An effective risk management framework allows the department to focus on the things that matter for Victorians and Victorian communities.

We continually monitor our performance to check whether we are on track to achieve our objectives and desired outcomes.

The department has a priority outcomes framework, consistent with Victoria's broader public sector reform outcomes policy. This also complements our performance reporting obligations under the Financial Management Act 1994.

The outcomes show what success looks like. They reflect our ambitions for Victoria's public health services.

They are clear, unambiguous, and high-level statements about the things that matter for people and communities.

The outcomes help the department to:

• set its priorities based on evidence about what is working and what is not
• deliver health services that match Victorians' needs
• be accountable for the performance of those services.

The priority outcomes framework is organised around 5 domains and 11 priority outcomes. There are 33 indicators across the priority outcomes.

The domains align with the strategic directions set out in this strategic plan.

We will continually update the framework as new priorities emerge and more data becomes available.

We report on our performance against the outcomes framework in the department's annual report.

The department also has a Public health and wellbeing outcomes framework and a Mental health and wellbeing outcomes framework. These frameworks are specific to those areas of healthcare. The latter was recommended by the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System.

A data dashboard will also help us to monitor progress against domains and outcomes of the Victorian Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Partnership Agreement and Action Plans. We are working on this in partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation.

Department of Health priority outcomes framework

Victorians are the healthiest people in the world

Notes

¹ Indicators to be disaggregated wherever possible by: Aboriginal people in Victoria; cultural and linguistic diversity; gender identity; presence of disability; household disadvantage; access to primary care; household remoteness; age; sex; asylum seeker; mental health presentation and hospital peer group. There are more than 20 indicators that will have 4 or more disaggregations.

² Indicator is also an 'objective indicator' in the Department Performance Statement (DPS).

Financial outlook

The table below sets out the department’s total funding as per the State Budget 2025–26. The State Budget 2025–26 Budget Papers provide detailed descriptions of objectives and outputs, together with key performance indicators.

Source: State Budget 2025–26 Budget Papers, Budget Paper No. 3, Department of Health.

The following table sets out the department's output initiatives in the State Budget 2025–26.

Output initiatives – Asset and financial outlook ($million)

Workforce outlook

Our workforce is vital to delivering this plan. We will focus on building our workforce’s capability and capacity. We will also create a great employee experience using culture, development, and inclusion.

We will do this through initiatives that employ and retain great people. This includes projects that improve workplace culture, health, safety, and wellbeing. It also means engaging and enabling our workforce and growing and developing our people.

Examples of our work in this area include uplifting our leadership capability, improving our writing capability across the department, and continuing our culture journey and wellbeing work. We will develop a culture where people get the job done and do it well, strive for excellence, work as a team, solve problems and think outside the box, and develop others.

We also know that support for diversity, inclusion and cultural safety is essential. Our approach to creating a great employee experience is underpinned by complementary initiatives such as:

• Aboriginal workforce strategy
• Getting to work: disability employment implementation plan
• Gender equality action plan
• LGBTIQA+ inclusion strategy
• Health safety and wellbeing framework
• Victorian Public Sector Commission employment guidelines.

Asset outlook

The department has an asset total estimated investment (TEI) of $15.9 billion in planning and delivery as detailed in State Budget 2025–26 Budget Papers, Budget Paper 4.

New projects

Source: State Budget 2025–26 Budget Papers, Budget Paper No. 4, Asset and financial outlook

Existing projects

Source: State Budget 2025–26 Budget Papers, Budget Paper No. 4, Department of Health

Approved use of accumulated State Administration Unit

The Resource management framework (section 3.5.2) sets out the order of funding for approved asset investments.

The department follows this order. If required, funds will be drawn down from accumulated State Administration Unit (SAU) funding, after seeking approval from the Treasurer as required under s. 33 of the Financial Management Act 1994. Any funds accessed from accumulated depreciation funding will be reported each year in the annual financial report.

Notes

^(a) The higher 2024-25 expected outcome reflects funding provided for government policy commitments. The higher 2025-26 target is due to new funding provided for government policy commitments, alignment of funding streams with the National Health Reform Agreement, and a revision to estimated hospital revenue.

^(b) The higher 2025-26 target is due to alignment of funding streams with the National Health Reform Agreement, and a revision to estimated hospital revenue.

^(c) The higher 2024-25 expected outcome reflects an increase in estimated hospital revenues, new Commonwealth funding and new State funding provided for government policy commitments. The higher 2025-26 target is due to new funding provided for government policy commitments and a revision to estimated hospital revenue.

^(d) The higher 2024-25 expected outcome reflects funding provided for government policy commitments. The higher 2025-26 target reflects funding provided for government policy commitments.

^(e) Table may not add due to rounding.

^(f) These initiatives contribute to activity that attracts Commonwealth Government funding under the National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA). Estimates of the Commonwealth Government’s contribution are included.