About This Project
How and why we track Victorian Government infrastructure spending.
What Is This?
The Victorian Accountability Dashboard is an independent, open-source tool that tracks major Victorian Government infrastructure projects. We compare original budget commitments against current cost estimates and completion timelines, making it easy to see where public money is going and which projects are off track.
We currently track 576 projects with a Total Estimated Investment (TEI) of $100 million or more. Every data point is sourced from official public records and attributed to its origin.
Why Does This Exist?
Victoria's infrastructure program is one of the largest in Australia's history. Billions of dollars in public money are committed to transport, health, education, and justice infrastructure. Citizens deserve a clear, accessible way to see whether projects are delivered on time and on budget.
Government reporting exists but it's fragmented across budget papers, audit reports, departmental websites, and parliamentary hearings. This dashboard brings it together in one place, structured and comparable over time.
Methodology
We track each project across several dimensions:
- Cost (TEI) — Total Estimated Investment as reported in Budget Paper 4 and VAGO audits. We record snapshots at each reporting period to track drift over time.
- Timeline — Original announced completion date vs. current estimated or actual completion. Delays are measured in months.
- RAG Status — Red/Amber/Green assessments for cost, time, and scope. Where available, we use the government's own RAG ratings from VAGO reports.
- Scope Changes — Material changes to project scope with associated cost and time impacts, sourced from audit reports and FOI releases.
Cost figures are in nominal dollars as reported — we do not adjust for inflation, consistent with how government reports present TEI figures. All dollar values are in millions (AUD).
Data Sources
VAGO Major Projects Reports
Victorian Auditor-General's Office performance audits of major projects (2022, 2023, 2024). Primary source for cost and time RAG assessments.
Budget Paper 4: State Capital Program
Annual budget papers listing all capital projects with TEI figures. Provides the time-series cost data for tracking drift across budget years.
DTF Capital Investment Dashboard
Department of Treasury and Finance public data on the state's capital program and project-level reporting.
FOI Releases
Freedom of Information documents providing detail on scope changes, contract values, and internal project assessments.
Parliamentary Records
Public Accounts and Estimates Committee transcripts and inquiry reports into major project delivery.
Media Reporting
Used as a secondary source only, cross-referenced against official records. Attributed where cited.
What This Is Not
- This is not affiliated with any political party, government department, or lobby group.
- This is not a criticism of infrastructure investment — we support building public infrastructure, and want it done well.
- We do not collect personal data. No cookies, no tracking, no analytics.
Open Source
The full source code is available on GitHub. The data is exposed via a REST API for journalists, researchers, and anyone who wants to build on this work.
Corrections, data contributions, and pull requests are welcome. If you spot an error in the data, please open an issue on GitHub.
Contact
This project is maintained by Derryn Simmons. For corrections, data requests, or media enquiries, open an issue on GitHub.