Victoria – Backing Local Jobs With More Music, Sport And Events

Victoria’s major sporting, arts and cultural events are world-class – our tourism and hospitality sectors are booming and nowhere does live music better than Victoria.

These industries attract millions of visitors to our state, support hundreds of thousands of local jobs – and they make Victoria a vibrant, exciting place to live and work.

That’s why the Andrews Labor Government is doing what matters in the Victorian Budget 2023/24 – investing $478 million to support our creative industries, secure the biggest events for Victoria, upgrade community sporting clubs across the state, boost regional economies and create jobs in the tourism sector.

Local sporting clubs are the heart of so many communities – and more than 100 of them will benefit from more than $200 million to improve their facilities, including $15 million for the Frankston Basketball Stadium redevelopment and $15 million to upgrade the Benalla Indoor Recreation Centre.

We’ll give our already packed major events calendar a boost, with an extra $23 million to help the Major Events Fund attract some of the biggest events, shows and live sports to Victoria – so our 21,000 workers supported by major events have a long pipeline of secure work to look forward to.

With ALWAYS LIVE, we brought Billy Joel to the MCG, the Foo Fighters to Geelong and Nick Cave to Hanging Rock – drawing thousands of fans from around Australia and the globe. A $20 million investment will keep the music playing, alongside a $2.5 million boost to Victoria’s renowned music festival scene.

Bendigo Art Gallery, one of Australia’s leading regional galleries, will see a $21 million investment to help it continue to present world-class exhibitions, like last year’s record-smashing Elvis exhibition which attracted more than 219,000 visitors.

This Budget invests $21.7 million in extra support for Victoria’s iconic state-owned creative institutions to enable new facilities and programs across the state to flourish.

Victoria’s position as a global leader in gaming and screen production will be strengthened with a digital games and visual effects rebate to attract more businesses and jobs to Victoria and maintain our position as the leading state in this fast-growing sector.

The $405,000 Creative Experiences Package will be shared across the Castlemaine State Festival, Dandenong Ranges’ Burrinja Cultural Centre, Maldon Vintage Machinery and Museum, Yarra Valley Arts and McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery in Langwarrin.

To encourage more visitors to flock to Victoria from across the country and around the world, we’ll invest $32.5 million in Visit Victoria to continue its work strengthening our visitor economy.

We’ll cement Victoria’s position as one of the world’s top live music destinations with a $7.5 million Live Music Performers Fund, backing thousands of Victorian musicians and artists to pack venues across the state and perform 10,000 gigs over the next four years.

We’re also investing in the future of our arts sector, with $2 million to teach song writing in high schools across the state, and a new planning overlay to protect our iconic live music venues for decades to come.

We’ll invest $2 million to back the mental health and wellbeing of our creative industries workforce through Support Act, establish a Victorian Music Industry Advisory Council and provide grants to keep community TV and radio stations afloat across the state.

The Budget backs our state as the home of live music in Australia, with $2 million for the Victorian Music Development Office and the Music Market.

In Victoria’s great outdoors, keen fishers are set for a big catch with $32 million for the Go Fishing Victoria program which includes support for local angling clubs, upgrades to fish hatcheries and fish stocking, as well as $26.5 million in boat ramp upgrades to improve access to Victorian waterways.

We’ll keep the promise we made to young anglers, with $1.5 million to provide 60,000 Little Anglers Kits to primary school-aged kids to encourage a new generation of fishing enthusiasts.

We’re helping keep Victorian kids active and healthy with more than $11 million for programs like Get Active Kids Vouchers, VICSWIM and Together More Active, alongside funding for the Western Bulldogs Community Foundation for programs that unite communities in Melbourne’s West through sport.

The iconic Stawell Gift race will continue to run in western Victoria with $1.7 million to make sure the event is sustainable for many years to come.

We’ll invest $1.6 million to make professional boxing and combat sports safer for athletes, improving registration and injury management systems, boosting concussion education and reviewing the operations of the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Board.

Proud tiny towns across the state are part of what makes Victoria great. We’re launching a $10 million Tiny Towns Fund for regional and outer suburban communities of up to 5,000 people, backing projects that drive community pride and tourism like new hiking trails.

In smaller towns across the state, we’re investing to upgrade the St Leonards Progress Association Hall, Warrnambool Community Garden, Beechworth Lions Club and Connecting Cockatoo Communities.

We’ll back parts of Victoria undergoing transition – alongside our work to re-establish the SEC, creating jobs with a focus on Gippsland, we’ll continue the work of the Latrobe Valley Authority with $7 million for programs like the Ladder Step Up program and Inclusive Worker Transition program.

The Bendigo Regional Employment Precinct will receive $6 million – supporting the City of Greater Bendigo to establish power and water connections and planning works at the 155-hectare industrial site, to help boost job creation in the growing regional city.

We’ll invest $19 million into Melbourne’s suburbs, supporting our Suburban Revitalisation Boards to keep identifying and working on local priorities – along with $1 million to renovate and repair Cranbourne Public Hall, creating a revitalised community hub for local families and residents.

Just as our Regional Partnerships are continuing, we’re also backing the important work of Metropolitan Partnerships with a renewed focus on outer suburban and disadvantaged communities, along with $10 million for the Growing Suburbs Fund to support the delivery of critical local infrastructure in Melbourne’s fastest-growing communities.

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events and Creative Industries Steve Dimopoulos said:

“Our creative and sporting sectors drive our economy, employ hundreds of thousands of Victorians and put our state on the world map – and that matters to Victorians. We’re proud to support them to keep Victoria the events and creative capital of the nation.”

Minister for Regional Development Harriet Shing said:

“Our smallest towns are so important to rural and regional Victoria and we’re delighted to invest in these communities as part of delivering liveability and pride of place to every part of the state, now and into the future.”

Minister for Community Sport and Suburban Development Ros Spence said:

“We’re backing sporting clubs across Victoria with more than $200 million in investment, ensuring players, coaches, volunteers and community members have modern facilities – and supporting growing suburbs to thrive.”

Minister for Outdoor Recreation Sonya Kilkenny said:

“Victorians love getting outdoors to go fishing – that’s why we’re investing in boat ramps, fish stocking and local angling clubs across the state so families can have the best fishing experience possible.”

Statement from BIA Victoria

“We can once again look to the structure that’s been created by government, largely as a result of BIAV efforts and influence, and in particular the Better Boating Fund, as we reflect on yesterday’s state budget that was handed down by the Treasurer. There was some tough news for big business with a new payroll levy, as well as new land tax implications for property investors. However the Better Boating Fund has assured that the commitment to boating and boating infrastructure will be sustained, and the fees collected from boaters will continue to go back into boating.

As part of the Premier’s formal announcement of the budget, we note this reference – In Victoria’s great outdoors, keen fishers are set for a big catch with $32 million for the Go Fishing Victoria program which includes support for local angling clubs, upgrades to fish hatcheries and fish stocking, as well as $26.5 million in boat ramp upgrades to improve access to Victorian waterways.

Minister Sonya Kilkenny is quoted as saying, “Victorians love getting outdoors to go fishing – that’s why we’re investing in boat ramps, fish stocking and local angling clubs across the state so families can have the best fishing experience possible.”

We look forward to our continued work with the Minister, as well as BBV’s Katherine Grech (far right) and her team, to see the best spend of this $26.5m, for the best interests of Victorian boaters”.

Photographed is the Minister (3rd from left) with BIAV CEO Steve Walker and other delegates at a recent boat ramp improvement announcement.