A “damning” new report has found the Andrews government in Victoria spent at least $39bn on its Covid response, with hundreds of millions paid to ineligible recipients or written off.
Victoria’s Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO) reported at least $12bn was spent on Covid grants, but up to $397m was paid to high risk and potentially ineligible recipients.
It found between 2023 and 2025 the Department of Health wrote off more than $771m of unused PPE equipment.
Another $252m was spent on Covid related legal expenses.
Daniel Andrews was premier of Victoria during the pandemic and attracted criticism for his handling of outbreaks and the state’s harsh lockdown policies.
He resigned from politics in 2023.
Andrews was succeeded by Jacinta Allan, who then abruptly resigned earlier this year ahead of a leadership challenge by Ben Carroll.
Mr Carroll is the current premier of Victoria.
In the latest report, Victoria’s Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions (DJSIR) were found to have reportedly wrote off $72.5 million in Covid grants by June 2025, after determining they had been paid to ineligible applicants and were deemed unrecoverable.
Another $75.4m Covid and flood grants were paid in error and also written off by the department.
In 2025, DJSIR advised the number of grants that needed to be investigated for eligibility had likely grown to $249m, but had a high probability of being eligible after corroborating data with other agencies.
But, VAGO found the sample size was small and potentially biased.
“DJSIR reiterated that the high administrative cost of a case-by-case audit would unlikely be matched by recovered grant funds,” VAGO stated in its report.
The report highlighted there was no way of accessing the information to get a clear picture of the ongoing financial impact of the pandemic on Victoria’s finances.
It stated the Department of Treasury and Finance consolidated its reporting on Covid spending from 2019-20 but stopped after 2021-22.
“We estimate departments spent a further $3 billion by the end of 2025–26, bringing total COVID-19 spending to $39.8 billion,” the Attorney’s General’s Office stated.
Shadow Attorney-General James Newbury told the Herald Sun the findings were another damning indictment of Labor’s waste, mismanagement and failure to protect taxpayers’ money.
“Ben Carroll promised that integrity would not be optional.”