Victoria’s Emergency Services Levy rollout delayed

Divisive emergency services levy delayed

Victorian farmers will have a temporary reprieve from hefty emergency services levy fees after the state government revealed it would delay the rollout of the tax.The controversial tax, which was developed from a previous, cheaper tax to help pay for natural disaster responses, was due to be charged to ratepayers across the state in July 2026.But after months of protests from farmers and firefighters, who argued they would be crippled by the fe…

Victoria’s Emergency Services Levy rollout delayed

Victorian farmers will have a temporary reprieve from Emergency Services Levy fees after the state government revealed it would delay the tax rollout.

Government freezes controversial levy for farmers in budget update

The Victorian government has backed down on key parts of an unpopular tax used to fund the state's emergency services as part of its budget update.

Fire services levy freeze extended

VICTORIAN farmers are breathing a sigh of relief now that the temporary freeze on the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund has been extended for two years. The temporary freeze was first announced in May after farmers and volunteers heavily protested the ESVF levy that would replace the cheaper Fire Services Property Levy to include additional […] Subscribe or Login to see the rest of the content.

Farmers breath sigh of relief as Fire Services Levy paused: VFF I Australian Rural & Regional News

Photo: VFF Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF), Media Release, 5 December 2025 The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has welcomed the Victorian Government’s decision to freeze the Emergency Services Volunteer Levy for a further two years and increase the property value threshold for volunteer exemptions from $5 million to $10 million. VFF President Brett Hosking said the move is a huge relief for farmers and comes after a huge backlash against t…

Farmers welcome freeze on emergency services levy but warn 'damage is done'

The government has announced it will freeze the much-criticised emergency services volunteer levy for the next two years.