Strengthening western Victoria’s border towns

16/10/2024

A new, three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Victorian and South Australian Cross Border Commissioners will help support border communities between both states.

The MoU outlines priorities for Victoria’s border communities, including support for health service planning, border policing, skills and training and emergency management.

The agreement will back the demands of border communities such as improving access to essential services and more job opportunities. The Victorian and South Australian governments are already delivering benefits to border towns through their Cross Border Commissioners.

Both Cross Border Commissioners champion local ideas to make these towns better places to live, work, stay and play. This includes towns like Mt Gambier in South Australia, which is benefitting from the Victorian Government’s free nursing scholarship program.

The program helps more locals build their careers in nursing through scholarships to support course and study costs. The regional fares cap for public transport has also extended to border locations like Mt Gambier.

This is supporting workers who cross between Victoria and South Australia each week and use VLine services. In Murrayville, a new fuel station is allowing locals in Victoria to fill up without having to travel across the border to South Australia.

The station was made possible through a $400,000 investment from the Victorian Government. Victorian and South Australian border towns play an important role in supporting the state’s economy through major industries.

A new collaboration between the Victorian and South Australian governments will help make it even easier to support border residents and develop common approaches between the neighbouring states.

The Cross Border Commissioners work with border communities to deliver and advocate for ways to help towns like Murrayville and Mount Gambier thrive.">