Victorian prisoners will be put to work on road maintenance as part of Labor's plan to fix the state's potholes if re-elected. The state's premier, Ben Carroll, will outline the plan on Monday, off the back of an announcement on Sunday that the government would be increasing the road maintenance budget by $352m to fix 500,000 potholes by the end of January.
Funding and pilot program details
The funding is on top of the more than $1bn budgeted for road maintenance in May, and is partially offset by delaying some of the level-crossing removals in Melbourne's southeast – two in Highett and one in Mentone. Carroll will declare that if Labor wins the November election, it would work with Corrections Victoria to develop a pilot program to put supervised, minimum-security prisoners to work performing roadside maintenance.
The plan would include having inmates take over “basic” duties such as mowing lawns, controlling weeds, removing graffiti and picking up rubbish, allowing more skilled crews to focus on fixing potholes. The government said the work of prisoners “will not replace paid jobs” but instead “supplement the workforce where there are skill and capacity shortages”.
In-house maintenance and public reporting
Carroll has also committed to bringing responsibility for road maintenance “back in-house”, meaning less reliance on private contractors, and setting up a website that will allow Victorians to take a photo of a pothole, request it be repaired and monitor progress. “In 2026, it should be easier to see what repairs are planned and raise road problems quickly,” he said in a statement.
It comes as the condition of the state's roads emerges as a significant issue in the lead up to the November election, particularly for regional Victorians. Last month, the state opposition pledged to invest $5bn to repair and rebuild the state's roads, and patch 1 million potholes if it wins in November.
