By Jasmine Yuen, Australian Christian Lobby Victorian Director
For years, I have wondered how many billions of taxpayer dollars could be saved if governments stopped funding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) and gender ideology programs across the public sector.
In 2024, I lodged a Freedom of Information request seeking a breakdown of Victorian Government funding allocated to LGBTIQA+ services, organisations, and agencies.
The Department of Treasury and Finance referred the request to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, which made a remarkable admission:
“There is no central database from which all funding information can be extracted.”
“Funding provided to LGBTIQA+ services, organisations and agencies is delivered through many different Victorian Government portfolios and the department does not hold funding information of other Victorian departments.”
“VICTORIA CANNOT ACCOUNT FOR THE SCALE OF ITS IDEOLOGICAL SPENDING”
That response revealed something deeply concerning: the Victorian Government cannot clearly account for the full scale of ideological spending across its departments and agencies.
If the government can publicly claim billions in ‘gender equality’ spending while promoting whole-of-government DEI policies, then taxpayers should reasonably expect the government to explain where that money is going.
The question is not whether the Treasurer personally holds the spreadsheet.
The real issue is whether the Victorian Government, as a whole, can clearly account for taxpayer-funded ideological programs spread across different departments and agencies.
Right now, the answer appears to be no.
$19 BILLION ALLOCATED TO GENDER EQUALITY OVER PAST FIVE STATE BUDGETS
The Victorian Budget 2026/27 now confirms just how deeply this agenda has been built into the machinery of government — even as Victoria faces record debt and growing pressure on families, taxpayers, and frontline services.
According to the government, this year’s budget includes $4.8 billion aimed at strengthening ‘gender equality’, bringing total spending in this category to more than $19 billion over the past five budgets.
This spending stretches across major portfolios including health, childcare, workforce participation, transport safety, and family violence policy.
Whilst some of this spending funds important services such as women’s safety and education, the broader ‘gender equality’ agenda has increasingly been used to embed contested gender ideology across government departments and programs.
GENDER-RESPONSIVE BUDGETING ACROSS WHOLE OF GOVERNMENT
In other words, Victoria is no longer treating gender ideology as a side issue or optional framework.
Under the banner of ‘gender equality’, the Allan Government is applying gender-responsive budgeting across the whole of government.
Treasurer Jaclyn Symes and Minister for Women and Girls Gabrielle Williams describe the approach as one that “runs an equality ruler across all budget decisions”.
The budget papers also state that government healthcare spending is being designed to improve access for “women and gender diverse people” (with references to women including people who identify as women).
VICTORIA EMBEDDING CONTESTED IDEOLOGIES INTO MAJOR SPENDING DECISIONS
This shows the government is not simply funding services for women or supporting vulnerable Victorians.
It is embedding contested ideas about sex and gender into major spending decisions across multiple portfolios.
Victorians can support compassionate care for every person, including people who identify as gender diverse, without accepting gender ideology as the organising principle of government.
“CONTESTED IDEAS HARDWIRED INTO STATE BUDGETS”
Protecting vulnerable Victorians is a legitimate responsibility of government.
But that does not mean contested ideas about sex and gender should be built into every layer of public budgeting and policy.
While Victoria is drowning in debt, families are under enormous cost-of-living pressure, and essential services are stretched to breaking point, the government is continuing to entrench gender ideology through a whole-of-budget framework.
Contested ideas about sex, identity, and human nature should not be hardwired into the state’s budgeting system.
“VICTORIANS DESERVE TRANSPARENCY BUT WILL THEY GET IT?”
At a time when Victorians are struggling, we need a government focused on fiscal restraint, essential services, public safety, and economic recovery — not ideology-first budgeting.
Victorians also deserve transparency.
If the government claims $19 billion has been spent under its gender equality agenda over the past five years, it should release a full, line-by-line breakdown of that spending so taxpayers can properly assess where their money is going.
The question is: will the government provide one?
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