At 4.52pm last Friday Ms Symes issued a government gazette outlining how the new $1.55 billion emergency services levy will be distributed across agencies in 2025-26 —including those within government departments.
According to the gazette, $312m or 90 per cent of the CFA’s “Forecast Funding Requirements” for 2025-26 will be covered by the tax. When combined with the government’s statutory obligation of 10 per cent, the CFA’s total 2025-26 budget rises to $328m — down from $370m in 2023-24.
Ms Symes’ office told the Opposition the 2024-25 figures were unavailable, but did supply the 2023-24 allocations instead.
The gazette also reveals that VicSES’ budget has been slashed from $85.2m in 2023-24 to $76.8m 2025-26.
Fire Rescue Victoria is facing the steepest cut, with funding set to drop from $961.4m last financial year to $846.4m in 2025-26