Community Health Sector dealt a blow
Media Statement from Community Health First – 21 July 2026
The Community Health Program has supported Victorians since 1973, providing local services to those most in need of health care and social support, often those who have fallen through the gaps of mainstream services.
But yearly indexation has not kept pace with cost-of-living pressures, inflation, wage increases, rising insurance premiums and high fuel costs leaving the sector to cover the shortfall.
The Department of Health has announced that funding for the Community Health Program will be indexed at 2.5% for 2026-27, despite minimum wages increasing of 4.75%.
A 2.5% increase equates to just $3.13 an hour. Any costs incurred in delivering services above this amount must be absorbed by organisations who are already running on increasingly tight budgets.
Meanwhile Community Service Organisations (other nonprofits that deliver community-based health and social services) will get a 4.5% increase in funding this financial year.
If the government wants to continue to have a highly skilled community health sector, providing quality care in our communities, we need funding equity and not a system that creates disparity between critical health care services and front-line workers. Without change, Victorian’s that rely on community health because they can’t afford care elsewhere will be the ones that miss out.
An unwillingness to recognise the true cost of delivering the Community Health Program will lead to sector burnout, and 11,000 workers who will feel ignored, undervalued and overlooked by the government.
Community Health First, which represents all 21 of Victoria’s registered, independent community health organisations including Bellarine Community Health, says the shortfall puts pressure on a sector that already stretches every dollar it receives to reach as many Victorians as possible.
Chair of Community Health First, Anna Robinson, said the sector has been going backwards for years, as costs keep rising around us, and it is time the government acknowledged that and put in place equitable indexation.
“Community health organisations already do an enormous amount with modest funding” Robinson said.
Last year alone we saw an 11% rise in people coming through our doors, and our staff found a way to meet that need. More and more Victorians are turning to community health as cost-of-living pressures are making care unaffordable.
“What we can’t do is keep absorbing the increased costs of delivering services by asking our already stretched workforce to do more with less.”
“Properly funded, this sector could be doing even more to keep Victorians well and out of hospital. Underfunded, we risk going backwards on the very outcomes government wants to see and not being able to deliver the services people need.”
We are not alone in calling for increased funding for the Community Health Program. Dr Leigh Clarke, CEO of the Victorian Healthcare Association said;
“Investing in community health services is good health economics. Early intervention and prevention are key to keeping Victorians healthy.
Community health services are a critical part of our health system. They deliver cost-effective healthcare to some of Victoria’s most vulnerable and diverse communities, stemming the flow of patients into hospitals and emergency departments.”
“Appropriate indexation is needed to address the structural funding deficit that has occurred over time, and ensure Victorians can continue to access healthcare when and where they need it. Over time, funding has not kept pace with the rising cost of delivering care nor CPI.”
The Victorian Auditor General also recommended a review of base and overall funding for community health back in 2018. Now in 2026, population growth and increased costs of service delivery have continued to climb, with the review yet to take place.
Community health organisations employ close to 11,000 people across Victoria and believe in fair and equitable pay for the teams who provide care close to home, for roughly 1 in 10 Victorians.
“Community health keeps people out of hospital and helps them stay well in the first place” Robinson said.
“A 4.5% increase to our base funding is much less than what it would cost the health system if the clients we can no longer see end up in hospital. For every $1 spent in community health, up to $13 is saved in future health costs.”
With more Victorians than ever relying on low-or-no-cost community healthcare, we are calling on the Victorian government to support a fair and equitable indexation rate for community health in line with the 4.5% announced for Community Service Organisations, alongside one-off implementation funding to help organisations manage the wage changes and the gender undervaluation outcomes.
Learn more about Community Health First HERE.