The Victorian Government has launched the Victorian Freight Plan 2025-30: Victoria Delivers — a bold strategy to decarbonise and accelerate growth in the $36 billion freight sector.
Designed to manage rising freight volumes driven by population growth, the plan aims to protect Victoria’s competitive advantage and unlock new opportunities for investors in freight infrastructure and logistics services - while supporting the state’s liveability and long-term economic prosperity.
As part of the plan, the Victorian Government will deliver an $8 million Freight Sector Innovation Fund to support small and medium heavy vehicle operators trial and transition to low-emission equipment.
The fund will also expand electric-charging infrastructure, providing operators with greater access to low-emissions fuels. It will help create new tools for industry to assess and track their carbon emissions to support broader efforts to decarbonise the sector.
Victoria’s sea-freight industry will benefit from Ports Victoria’s representation in the Green and Digital and Shipping Corridor (GDSC) agreement, signed by the Australian and Singapore Governments in 2024 to cut emissions.
The Port of Melbourne is progressing work aligned with the GDSC, including a feasibility study on green methanol bunkering and efforts to establish Green Shipping Corridors with key trade partners, paving the way for regional decarbonisation.
The Victorian Government is also undertaking further work to become the first Australian state to be a sub-national endorser of the global Memorandum of Understanding for decarbonising freight transport. This will give the state access to a global network of expertise and data to help cut heavy freight transport emissions.
The Victorian Freight Plan will support targeted investments in new road, rail and port infrastructure to support freight combinations that can move more cargo with fewer emissions.
Victoria’s strategic infrastructure investments enhance supply chain efficiency and capacity, providing investors with a stable and growth-oriented environment for freight-related projects.
This will protect and strengthen Victoria’s competitive advantage, maintain our status as Australia’s freight and logistics capital and support our workforce of 260,000 who keep our supply chains moving every day.
Minister for Ports and Freight Melissa Horne
The Plan includes shared government and industry goals to grow a freight system that protects and strengthens our competitive advantage and enhances Victoria’s liveability and economic prosperity – with consultation shaping potential actions to the plan.
Victoria continues to lead the nation when it comes to exporting goods, with the Port of Melbourne handling more than a third of Australia’s container trade as our gateway to international markets.
The freight and logistics sector not only contributes $36 billion to Victoria’s economy but is a vital enabler of our thriving agricultural exports and advanced manufacturing sectors – supporting productivity right across the supply chain.
To learn more about the Victorian Freight Plan, visit vic.gov.au/freight-victoria.
See how the Victorian Freight Plan and other government strategies create investment opportunities by advancing economic growth, innovation, sustainability, and infrastructure.
