Darling Downs
The 2024–25 Queensland Budget supports Queenslanders. On the Darling Downs it provides:
$1,300 electricity bill support
for Queensland households – an upfront $1,000 Cost of Living Rebate from the Queensland Government and a $300 rebate paid in quarterly instalments from the Australian Government.
$1.5B for health
for the Darling Downs and South West Hospital and Health Services.
$71M for education
to maintain, improve and upgrade schools on the Darling Downs.
$1.9B for the Big Build
for productivity-enhancing infrastructure and capital works, estimated to support 5,100 jobs on the Darling Downs.
Delivering for the DARLING DOWNS
Free Kindy
Up to 3,732 children eligible for free kindy on the Darling Downs, for 15 hours per week, 40 weeks per year.
(January 2024 to May 2024)
Fee-Free TAFE
5,094 fee-free TAFE courses commenced by people on the Darling Downs wanting to train, retrain or upskill in priority industries.
(January 2023 to March 2024)
Building our Regions
$61.1 million allocated to projects for critical infrastructure on the Darling Downs, supporting an estimated 431 jobs. This has leveraged further financial co-contributions statewide of more than $556 million from local governments, the Australian Government, and other organisations, with a total capital expenditure value of more than $974 million.
(March 2015 to September 2025)
First Home Owner Grant
2,349 grants worth $39.7 million paid to home buyers to help them buy their first home on the Darling Downs.
(July 2016 to April 2024)
Delivering better services for the Darling Downs
Growth from March 2015 to March 2024
823 extra nurses up 46.9%
143 extra teachers up 5.1%
247 extra doctors up 74.9%
96 extra ambulance officer up 35.2%
QPS programs boost community safety
Police efforts to target youth crime funded by the Queensland Government have achieved a 16 per cent decrease in youth offending across the Darling Downs district in 2023. From Taskforce Guardian, which assists local police to track down repeat offenders, to the Queensland Police Service’s (QPS) award-winning early-intervention program Project Booyah, the QPS aims to divert at-risk young people. There have been five Taskforce Guardian Toowoomba deployments since the rapid response taskforce was established in May 2023, resulting in additional arrests and engagements.
Project Booyah confronts the causes of crime by steering kids back to education and training, or employment. The project is funded under the newly formed Youth Development Partnership Fund, a joint initiative between the Department of Tourism and Sport and the QPS. The first Toowoomba participants started the 16-week program in March. During 2023, 199 participants took part in the project across the state, with 84 per cent successfully graduating the course.
QUEENSLAND BUDGET 2024–25 AT A GLANCE
Total concessions including cost-of-living relief measures available in 2024–25
$11.2B
Investment in school and early education facilities
$1.3B
Total health funding in 2024–25
$28.9B
Total Big Build over 4 years
$107.3B
Community Safety Plan for Queensland
$1.3B
Jobs supported by the Big Build program in 2024–25
72,000
Putting Queensland Kids First Plan
$502M
Percentage of Big Build spend outside of greater Brisbane in 2024–25
68.5%
Homes for Queenslanders
$3.1B
Total capital investment to support the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan over 4 years
$26B