Our Strategic Plan 2023-27

Health is the most important aspect of our lives. It’s the foundation of everything else we do.

So, what a privilege it is to be able to contribute to improving the health of every single Victorian. To invest in facilities, research and access so that Victorians all over the state are empowered to make informed decisions that improve their health and wellbeing. To partner with Aboriginal Victorians on the path to self-determination. To improve access to mental health services. To turn the spotlight on women’s health. And so much more.

Our work is fuelled by a shared passion to serve the community of today and create a better future for those who will come after us. We face unprecedented challenges at individual and global levels. From waiting lists to climate change, the world has never been more complex. And yet we also have more resources, collective wisdom and technology than at any other time in history.

Most importantly, though, we have the people we need to deliver our ambitious goals. Victorian health and wellbeing workers are among the best in the world. Expertly trained, fiercely committed and genuinely compassionate. They are our greatest asset. They deserve more than just our praise, and we’ll invest heavily in their training, wellbeing and career progression.

This strategic plan harnesses the energy, innovation, and passion of our people. It is a plan that will deliver the best health, wellbeing and care outcomes for communities across the state. It is the plan Victoria deserves.

And you and I get to be part of it.

Euan Wallace
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. Whether through alerting them to seasonal risks like thunderstorm asthma, notifying them of contact with communicable diseases, safeguarding their drinking water, developing the best health, wellbeing and care facilities in the world, being at the forefront of mental health and wellbeing treatment or accelerating medical research. It’s all part of the way 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.

Our vision is that Victorians are the healthiest people in the world. It’s bold, it’s ambitious and we’ll settle for nothing less.

To make this vision a reality, we have seven strategic priorities:

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

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

Our strategic directions state what we are doing to support Victorians to be the healthiest people in the world.

Each strategic direction has deliverables for the four years from 2023–27. We have included initiatives to illustrate what the department is doing, and 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 four years
• deliverables – what we need to focus on to drive the strategic directions
• initiatives – what we are doing to achieve the deliverables
• outcomes – how we measure our success

This section outlines the strategic directions, with an overview of the deliverables, initiatives, and outcomes associated with each strategic direction. It also details principles which underpin how we will undertake all the work in the strategic plan, as well as enablers, which will support the department.

Note:

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

To keep healthy and safe, we Victorians need to be equipped with information and tools that allow us to make good choices. These choices affect our health and help us navigate 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 and 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, inclusive and culturally safe. This experience will extend across the full spectrum of services from hospitals to mental health and wellbeing support to Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) and everywhere else Victorians need the health, wellbeing and care system.

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

The Treaty process 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 our First Peoples through connectedness, community and self-determination.

Our role is to continue to partner, engage and consult with communities so that 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’ll 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’ll ensure environments are created to help Victorians live healthy lives.

We’ll use data and analytics to help identify priority issues. We’ll respond to emergencies, provide protection from hazards, and build resilience and emergency readiness in the workforce and community. And we’ll 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.

Key deliverables

• Collaborative early intervention and prevention programs and services including strengthening Aboriginal people’s access
• Information that empowers people to make informed choices about their health
• Legislative and regulatory safeguards, predictive analytics and protective conditions to prevent harm and deliver consistently safer and higher-quality health, wellbeing and care services
• Reduced harmful alcohol and drug use including vaping

Initiatives

• Victorian Cancer Plan 2024–2028
• Screening and early detection programs
• Extension of the culture and kinship pilot program
• Focus on women’s health
• Mpox vaccination
• Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2023–2027
• Pandemic program
• Alcohol and other drug treatment support and harm reduction services

Outcomes

Population health:

• Health and wellbeing across the lifespan and emerging health issues.

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 that 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 need to go to hospital, it will be at the right time. They won’t fall through the cracks or wait too long. They’ll move from their community-based services to the appropriate hospital for only as long as necessary, before returning to home and community care.

With rapid and growing technological advances, patients can also access a growing number of services from their own homes. Virtual care, telehealth and other innovations like wearables and home monitoring can overcome geographical inequalities in a state the size of Victoria.

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 suffers to those contending with addiction and mental health challenges – and everyone in between.

Key deliverables

• Connected care services and pathways
• Virtual care, telehealth and other advanced digital models
• Access for people managing chronic disease
• Improved outcomes for regional and rural communities

Initiatives

• Better at Home
• Priority Primary Care Centres
• Strengthening mental health and wellbeing community-based services
• Therapeutic bed-based services
• Public fertility services
• Pathways to home
• GP support
• Suicide prevention and response
• Community hospitals
• Hospital PET scanners
• Armstrong Creek ambulance station
• Regional aged care services

Outcomes

Individual experience of care:

• Accessible care
• Safe and quality experience of care.

Healthcare innovation never stops. Every treatment, discovery and cure is possible because of the countless days, years and decades that have come 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 medical and broader research.

Our system will have a positive learning culture that encourages applied research and experimentation. It will provide the funds to support this continuous improvement. Victorians who need emergency, urgent care or planned surgery will experience improved care experiences. We’ll accelerate research into precision medicine and preventive health. Women’s health and mental health will receive priority attention in our ongoing pursuit of improvement and excellence.

Innovations in clinical practice will be coupled with capital investment in environments that 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, contributing to that all-important objective of prevention and paving the way for seamless, integrated care.

Key deliverables

• Advanced women’s health outcomes through improved care and access to tailored services throughout women’s lives
• Advanced data and interoperable digital infrastructure that is person-centric and works across all parts of the health, wellbeing and care system
• Shared digital infrastructure and advanced data that is person-centric and joined up across all parts of the health, wellbeing and care system
• Improved outcomes, safety and care experiences for people who need mental health and wellbeing services, emergency and urgent care or planned surgery
• Accelerated medical research and the translation of research into practice
• Health environments designed to enable high-quality service delivery and innovative models of care

Initiatives

• New Arden Hospital and redeveloped RMH Parkvillle
• Victorian women’s sexual and reproductive health plan 2022-30
• Research to fight childhood cancer
• Specialised therapies for rare diseases and cancer
• Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals
• Mental health crisis and emergency responses

Outcomes

Individual experience of care

• Accessible care
• Safe and quality experience of care

Equity

• System that addresses disparities and health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Victoria.

Connection to culture is integral to the health and wellbeing for our strong and proud Victorian Aboriginal community. We will ensure that Aboriginal people have access to a health, wellbeing and care system that is holistic, accessible, empowering and culturally safe. We recognise the importance of a sustainable Aboriginal community-controlled health, wellbeing and care sector in achieving this, including strengthening its role in 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. We are investing in approaches that embed the principles of self-determination in all matters that impact Aboriginal health and wellbeing and supporting Aboriginal research that is self-determined and culturally respectful.

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

Key deliverables

• Aboriginal voice and self-determination inform design and reform of health environments
• Culturally safe services
• Stronger ACCHOs
• Self-determined and culturally respectful Aboriginal research and evaluation

Initiatives

• Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Partnership Agreement and Action Plan
• Government’s multi-year funding support to ACCHOs
• Health-based response to public intoxication
• More support for parents and babies
• Focus on women’s health
• Priority suicide prevention and response

Outcomes

Equity

• System that addresses disparities and health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in Victoria.

Together we achieve more. It’s that simple. We’re not in a competition. We’re partners in creating better, safer, more sustainable health outcomes for Victorians. We’re in it together. And we’re 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’ll 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 chronic conditions that require multiple care providers increase, it is more important than ever to make sure the patient’s care team are all on the same page and working towards a common goal.

Key deliverables

• Linked services through planning, sharing information, and designing together
• Partnerships with states and territories and the commonwealth to champion system reform
• Better-connected services that allow people to move easily through the system

Initiatives

• Targeted health support for children in care
• Data sharing agreements between Victorian Primary Health Networks and the department
• System-wide improvements to support timely emergency care
• Better services for older people in aged care settings
• The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Collaboration
• Backing pharmacists to boost our health system
• Doing what matters for local communities – community health

Outcomes

Sustainable healthcare

• Sustainable system and affordable care.

Health, wellbeing and care workers are the backbone of the health system. The Victorian health workforce is among the best in the world, and the pandemic only highlighted their expertise, passion and fierce dedication to their patients.

The people who deliver care to Victorians deserve a first-rate employee experience, and Victoria is leading the way through our focus on future roles, capabilities and professional development. We’re asking questions that will equip our workforce for the future. What will tomorrow’s roles look like? What skills will our people need? And how are we going to support them to learn, stretch and grow?

The evolving needs of our healthcare system include greater autonomy for our workers, agility in the workplace and the need for workers to operate in multidisciplinary teams. We’ll make sure there are enough skilled and talented people across Victoria, and we’ll build the workforce needed to support 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, medical research, lived experience and public health. We also need to prepare our workforce for new responsibilities under the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022.

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

Finally, it’s no secret that the health sector can be high pressure with high stakes, but we will accept nothing less than a culture of full respect, which is free from violence and other threats to employee wellbeing.

Key deliverables

• World-leading employee experience with an improved service culture grounded in respect and safety
• Improved staff experience through better technology and IT systems
• Increased supply of critical roles and strengthened rural and regional workforce
• Future, fit-for-purpose roles and capabilities and preparedness for new responsibilities under the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act
• Stronger sector workforce resilience and emergency preparedness and adaptable surge response capacity

Initiatives

• Victorian 10-year health workforce strategy
• Aboriginal workforce strategy 2021–2026
• Public Health Workforce plan
• More support for our nurses and midwives
• Supporting the next generation of paramedics
• Supporting our GPs
• Mental Health Capital Renewal Fund
• Strengthening and supporting the mental health and wellbeing workforce
• Specialist forensic mental health services
• Mental health support for emergency service workers

Outcomes

Healthcare workforce

• Healthcare worker wellbeing and workforce capability and capacity.

Now is the time for change. Now is the time to build on the successes of the past to continue developing a modern, safe, and sustainable health, wellbeing and care system. We know the challenges: money is tight; climate change is upon us. But we also have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve the health outcomes for today’s Victorians, and those of generations to come.

What value do we put on Victorians’ health? This is a critical question we must answer when designing a system that delivers the most sustainable financial and 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 address the effect of our health system on the environment. Victoria is home to massive amounts of property, equipment and other carbon emitting assets. We have an enormous scope to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the health, wellbeing and care sector, which will improve population and patient health outcomes, as well as delivering savings and strengthening 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.

Key deliverables

• Financial sustainability, operational performance and system management reform
• Value-based healthcare to deliver the outcomes that matter to people
• Long-term outcomes-based resourcing for Aboriginal health services
• Reduced wasteful practices and more energy-efficient precincts to ensure net zero emissions by 2035
• Adaptable system that is resilient against challenges including climate change and emerging risks

Initiatives

• Safer digital healthcare program 2023–24
• New fully electric $900 million Melton Hospital
• Redevelopment of Thomas Embling Hospital – Stage 3
• $40 million energy efficiency and solar program for public hospitals
• VHBA’s Guidelines for sustainability in healthcare capital works
• Asset renewal grant programs
• Implementation of the Health and Human Services Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan 2022–2026

Outcomes

Sustainable healthcare

• Sustainable system and affordable care

The healthcare system in Victoria has never been better equipped. We live in a world of incredible technological advances, unprecedented quality of care, and ever-growing numbers of services and supports. Our workforce is among the best in the world and our health outcomes continue to improve year-on-year.

The Department of Health oversees the largest health infrastructure portfolio in Victoria’s history, with more than 80 health, mental health, aged care and ambulance services infrastructure projects and grants programs in planning or delivery.

The number of Victorians affected by mental health issues soared during and after the pandemic. Two and a half years into the largest reform in mental health services in our state’s history, our mental health and wellbeing system now provides better access to services where and when Victorians need them. Similarly, the 40,000 Victorians who are dependent on alcohol and other drugs have a broad spectrum of community-based and residential treatment options.

We are investing in medical research, collaborating with other state and federal governments, and prioritising prevention and early intervention. And yet, for all our advances, we still face some of the challenges of the past, along with new challenges of the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic deeply impacted our system and its people. Demand for services and access continues to stretch our system, and complex chronic conditions are affecting more Victorians than ever before.

Our infrastructure expansion will need to be carefully managed in a challenging global economy that continues to be impacted by supply-chain disruptions and labour-market constraints. Climate change, global competition for workers and increasingly complex conditions all affect our ability to deliver the best possible healthcare to Victorians.

Some of these forces are out of our control. But for those we can influence, we are acting and will continue to act to achieve better outcomes, more inclusion and increased community empowerment.

Emergency departments and ambulance services remain the first port-of-call for many Victorians who do not need that level of care but have nowhere else to go. We need to reduce the load on our emergency services by ensuring people can access the right care in the right place at the right time.

Because of the pandemic, planned surgery waiting lists are longer than ever before. And many Victorians delayed seeking care for their conditions, which have now worsened over time. Sadly, this means when they do present, it is at a much later stage, which is a devastating scenario for those with conditions like cancer, who will need more aggressive and extensive treatment. To meet these demands, we are already well on our way to improving how surgery is provided across our state.

We know there is health inequity for Victoria’s First Peoples. To close this gap, we need to transfer decision-making about Aboriginal health and wellbeing to Aboriginal people. We must strengthen the Aboriginal community-controlled sector while building a mainstream sector that is free from discrimination, is culturally safe, and meets the specific needs of Aboriginal people.

Women in Victoria have one of the highest life expectancies in the world. But they are still treated by a system that was designed by men and for men. Female-specific health issues and the way women respond differently to general health conditions must be addressed by expanding access to women’s health services and increased research and data collection.

In childhood, negative health outcomes can have serious impacts across a person’s entire life. In disadvantaged communities, we see a disproportionate number of children with serious health concerns. Tragically, some children’s health is affected because they are neglected, abused or traumatised. These are systemic issues that require a coordinated approach across the entire spectrum of Victoria’s support systems so that we can protect Victorian children and give them every opportunity to thrive.

At the other end of the lifespan spectrum, more than one million Victorians are aged over 65 years. We are providing a healthcare system that allows people to live longer. So we need to ensure that our ageing population is respected and honoured not only in their healthcare but across all aspects of their lives. They are the ones who created the world we live in, and they deserve the care of the ones who now benefit from their hard work and sacrifice.

Our rural and regional communities face access challenges and have poorer health than those living in Melbourne. Victoria’s multicultural communities also experience poorer health and wellbeing outcomes than the broader Victorian population. Unsurprisingly, refugees and people seeking asylum also experience significant health and wellbeing disparities related to their refugee journey.

Around 17 per cent of Victorians are people with disability. They not only have poorer health outcomes but also face a range of systemic barriers, including in relation to communication and mobility, as well as physical and psychosocial support needs. We can and must improve the system for these Victorians.

Just over one in 20 adult Victorians openly identifies as being LGBTIQA+. They face high levels of discrimination, stigma and exclusion, leading to poorer health, economic, social and mental health outcomes than other Victorians. The only acceptable scenario for Victoria is that there is no distinction among people who are or are not LGBTIQA+. Healthcare does not discriminate.

Globally, climate change remains a dual concern. At one level, we are more susceptible to extreme weather events and emergencies that will have immediate health impacts. At another, the health sector is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. But we have extraordinary opportunities to make a positive and lasting impact for generations to come. Victoria’s planned Melton Hospital will be powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity and is just one example of innovation that would have been unfathomable only a decade or so ago.

It is within this environment that we have developed our strategic plan. A plan that recognises the challenges, capitalises on innovation and delivers a path forward that will move us towards our vision of Victorians being the healthiest people in the world.

The Department of Health helps manage our public health system to provide all Victorians with high-quality public hospitals and services for their acute health needs. We have leadership responsibility for:

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

The department’s Executive Board assists the Secretary with strategic leadership to meet the department’s objectives (including vision, purpose and direction setting). It also improves performance and outcomes and implements complex reform priorities. The Executive Board comprises the Secretary, Deputy Secretaries, the Chief Communications Officer, the Chief Aboriginal Health Adviser and CEOs of Safer Care Victoria and the Victorian Agency for Health Information.

Each Deputy Secretary leads a division that is 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

Health system commissioning improvement

The department stewards Victoria’s health and community care system. This system includes public health services, community-based healthcare providers, maternal and child health services, dental health service, public residential aged care and ambulance services.

Mental Health and Wellbeing

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Division leads and delivers Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing reform agenda, as set out by the Final report of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System (2021). It also stewards the mental health and alcohol and other drug services sectors.

Public Health

The department is responsible for advancing public health, improving population health and wellbeing outcomes and equity, preventing disease and injury, and leading readiness for and response to health threats and broader emergencies. This includes control agency responsibility under the State Emergency Management Plan for health emergencies, which can include a threat to drinking water quality, a radioactive incident, a food security incident or an infectious disease outbreak or pandemic.

The department stewards Victoria’s networked public health system which includes functions performed by Local Public Health Units within health services, community-based organisations and local government.

Health Infrastructure

The department is responsible for planning, design, delivery and oversight of the Victorian Government’s multibillion-dollar health infrastructure program, including managed assets, across all departmental portfolios.

We also provide expertise and leadership for long-term health infrastructure planning. This includes environment and precincts policy development and ensuring infrastructure investment supports jobs and economic growth in Victoria.

System reform and medical research

The department drives reform and improvement within the Victorian health system. We design change to improve health outcomes, health equity and influence the future shape of the health system. The department actively promotes the health and medical research sector across the research pipeline leading on advocacy, support and advice in national and local contexts. Additionally, it provides grants and infrastructure support and leads on collaborative approaches across the Victorian health and medical research sector.

Health information

The Victorian Agency for Health Information within the department is Victoria’s end-to-end health data agency. It delivers trusted information to inform better decisions and improve the health and wellbeing of Victorians.

Health care quality and safety

Safer Care Victoria (SCV) is the state’s healthcare quality and safety improvement agency and drives best practice across the sector through a range of critical improvement projects. SCV works in close partnership with health services, clinicians, consumers and the wider community.

SCV monitors and improves the quality and safety of care delivered across Victoria’s healthcare system, including sentinel events, clinical governance challenges, and consumer complaints. SCV also provides expert advice to clinicians and consumers.

Aboriginal Health

The department drives key policy and health reform initiatives in partnership with the Aboriginal community-controlled health sector and broader health system. The department works in partnership with the Aboriginal community, health sector and governments to achieve a health system that is equitable, culturally safe, and driven by Aboriginal self-determination.

People and operations

The department undertakes many people and operational functions including financial and human resource management, industrial and employment relations, procurement and contract management, information security, management and digital solutions, organisational planning, performance reporting and governance, as well as risk and integrity functions.

Some corporate services are shared between the Department of Health and Department of Families, Fairness and Housing for shared services such as payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fleet, accommodation and property/facilities management.

Regulation and legal

The department has a key role in driving health regulatory compliance and enforcement and stewarding health legal and regulatory reform.

Communications and engagement

The department provides strategic, coordinated and best practice communications and engagement through functions such as public affairs (media relations and events), strategic communications and marketing and stakeholder and consumer engagement.

This ensures the department speaks in a unified voice that aligns with a central narrative promoting the government’s vision for the Victorian community and its key priorities.

We consider risk in our planning and decision making to ensure we understand and manage the threats to and opportunities in the delivery of our strategic directions and initiatives to achieve our vision.

There are many types of risks that the department faces. 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 has a risk management policy to ensure the implementation of an effective risk management framework that supports the department achieving its outcomes. In doing so, the department 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 (tier 1) – these risks align with the department’s strategic plan and affect whole-of-department outcomes
• divisional risks (tier 2) – these risks affect an entire division or the achievement of key divisional objectives
• project risks (tier 3) – these risks relate to the delivery of government objectives or initiatives, budget initiatives and strategic priority projects.

The department also supports, either as the lead or as a contributary agency, the management of risks in relation to state-significant risks that may significantly affect the community, the government and the private sector.

The department recognises the important connection between strategy, risk and performance. By having clarity of vision and strategic directions and an effective risk management framework, we can focus on the things that matter and deliver better health outcomes 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 updated its outcomes framework, consistent with Victoria’s broader public sector reform outcomes policy and complementary to its performance reporting obligations under the Financial Management Act 1994.

Outcomes articulate what success looks like and 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 approach helps the department set its priorities based on evidence about what is working and what is not, deliver health services that more closely align with Victorians’ needs, and be accountable for the performance of those services.

Under five organising domains, the outcomes framework consists of 11 priority outcomes, beneath which there are 33 statistical indicators. The domains align with the strategic directions set out in this strategic plan. We will update the framework as new priorities emerge and more data becomes available. Performance against the outcomes framework will be reported in the department’s annual report.

Relatedly, the department is developing a new Public health outcomes framework and a Mental health and wellbeing outcomes framework that will be more specific to those areas of healthcare. The latter was recommended by the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.

The department is also developing a data dashboard to effectively and transparently monitor progress against domains and outcomes of the Victorian Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Partnership Agreement and Action Plans. We will do this in partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation.

Department of Health priority outcomes framework 2023

Victorians are the healthiest people in the world

Financial outlook

The department’s total funding as per the State Budget 2023–24 are provided in the table below. Detailed descriptions of objectives and outputs, together with key performance indicators, are presented in the State Budget 2023–24 Budget Papers.

The following table contains all of the new output initiatives in the State Budget 2023–24

Output initiatives – Department of Health ($ million)

Workforce outlook

The department recognises the critical importance of its workforce in delivering this plan. As part of supporting the effectiveness and efficiency of our workforce, the department is developing a three-year People Strategy. The strategy focuses on building the capability and capacity, creating a great employee experience and ensuring a continued focus on and accountability for culture, development and inclusion priorities.

The strategy focuses on employing and retaining great people, providing an inclusive and constructive workplace culture, health, safety and wellbeing, engaging and enabling our workforce, and growing and developing our people. Examples of key initiatives within the strategy include recruitment reform, finalisation of our talent and succession cycle, an upgraded leadership development pathway, culture roadmap implementation activities, including leadership culture training and improved job design strategies that protect against psychological harm.

We also know that to allow our workforce to achieve their best, support for diversity, inclusion and cultural safety are essential. The People Strategy is therefore underpinned by complementary initiatives such as our Aboriginal Workforce Strategy, ‘Getting to Work’ Disability Employment implementation plan, Gender Equality Action Plan, LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Strategy, Health Safety and Wellbeing Framework and Victorian Public Sector Commission employment guidelines.

Asset outlook

The department has an asset total estimated investment (TEI) of $14.5 billion in planning and delivery as detailed in Budget Paper 4.

New projects

Existing projects

Source: Department of Health

Note: (a) Totals include expenditure for projects with a range or ‘tbc’ TEIs and cash flows.

Approved use of accumulated State Administration Unit (SAU)

The Resource Management Framework (3.5.2) sets out the order of funding for approved asset investments. The department follows this order and if required, funds will be drawn down from accumulated SAU funding, after seeking approval from the Treasurer as required under S33 of the Financial Management Act 1994. Any funds accessed from accumulated depreciation funding will be reported each year in the Annual Financial Report.