How governments can support early intervention

People often ask, why don’t governments better identify issues and needs earlier, and fix them then, rather than focus on paying much more money when things go wrong, or people have even more significant needs or problems? How can we reduce the impact on our health and education systems, our care providers, and on children, families and communities, by investing earlier?

It’s a simple question but the answer is less straightforward, and the tyranny of short term electoral cycles (of 3-4 years in Australia), combined with the significant amount of investment needed upfront (the returns for which can be even more significant, but often aren’t seen for years to come); can make this a challenging path for governments to tread. But one government - in Victoria - is demonstrating how this can be possible.

For several years now the Victorian Treasury has had an Early Intervention Investment Framework in place, enabling it to credibly and conservatively quantify, bank and reinvest the savings achieved in a number of early intervention initiatives in areas including homelessness (see J2SI), Aboriginal education, youth mental health, leaving state care (see Compass) and prison (see Arc).

This success of this model has seen the Victorian Government increase investment in early intervention programs from 1% to 10% of new spending since the budgetary and reporting measures have been put in place. 

By linking the Victorian Government’s funding to quantifiable impacts both for people using the services as well as the service system, the EIIF works to guide investments to where timely assistance can improve life outcomes for individuals and reduce pressure on acute services.

The Victorian Government has invested $2.7 billion through the EIIF to date, with more than $3 billion anticipated to be generated in economic and financial benefits. It plans to spend $1.1 billion in the 2024-25 financial year.

If you would like to learn more about this approach, please see the report released by the Victorian Treasury in August 2022.

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