Almost 24,000 violent incidents were reported in Victorian public hospitals in a year (SMH and The Age, November 2025). A psychological injury claim in a Victorian public hospital averaged $189,845 and 256 days off, and 44% of those claimants never returned to work (VAGO, 2023).
Victoria also has the clearest rules about what good training looks like. The Department of Health sets training principles for a tiered approach across staff groups, and the psychological health regulations say training must sit inside a wider set of controls. A Victorian business case should show both.
What are the numbers in Victoria?
Premium rates for public hospitals jumped in one year, and the steepest rise was for psychiatric hospitals.
Source: Victorian Parliamentary Budget Office. Hospital premiums rose 51% (about $84m) in 2023-24 (The Courier).
| Health service | Latest premium | Change | Per FTE | Violence claims per 100 FTE | Violence incidents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred Health | $17.1m 2024-25 | +26% | $1,940 | 0.28 | 920 |
| Ambulance Victoria | $70.0m 2024-25 | +9% | $11,300 | 1 | 1,045 |
| Austin Health | $19.2m 2024-25 | +10% | $2,670 | 0.22 | 1,118 |
| Bendigo Health | $7.8m 2023-24 | +123% | – | 0.4 | 584 |
| Eastern Health | $17.8m 2024-25 | −6% | $2,230 | 0.2 | 1,289 |
| Forensicare | $3.0m 2024-25 | +12% | $3,380 | 1.5 | 433 |
| Grampians Health | $13.4m 2023-24 | +84% | – | 0.29 | 708 |
| Melbourne Health (RMH) | $15.5m 2024-25 | −2% | $2,000 | 0.05 | 1,424 |
| Monash Health | $45.3m 2024-25 | +6% | $2,780 | 0.14 | 1,439 |
| Northern Health | $14.2m 2024-25 | −22% | $2,290 | 0.15 | 4,275 |
| Peninsula Health | $13.9m 2024-25 | −6% | $2,790 | 0.32 | 1,135 |
| St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne | $8.3m 2024-25 | +42% | $1,640 | 0.08 | 842 |
| Western Health | $20.7m 2024-25 | +22% | $2,380 | 0.06 | 1,315 |
Sources: each service’s 2024-25 annual report (premium, FTE and the occupational violence table), except Bendigo and Grampians, whose latest itemised premiums are for 2023-24 (The Courier). Listed alphabetically. Per FTE is our calculation. Services count incidents differently, so compare claim rates rather than incident totals. Every row, with its source, is on the open data page.
What the tables show: ambulance and forensic mental health services make violence claims at several times the rate of general hospitals, at about 1.0 and 1.5 claims per 100 FTE. At Northern Health, 20 violence-related WorkCover claims since 2023 cost $2.75m and more than 550 weeks of lost work, about $137,500 a claim (Monash University, July 2026).
What are Victorian regulators and the government saying?
The psychological health regulations now set the bar. The Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations commenced on 1 December 2025. They name aggression and violence as a psychosocial hazard, and WorkSafe says that where controls are combined, "information, instruction or training must not be the predominant control" (WorkSafe Victoria).
The Department of Health sets the training standard. Its guide to violence and aggression training sets out principles for a tiered approach for different staff groups, with core topics including risk assessment, de-escalation techniques, roles in Code Grey and Code Black responses, and incident reporting. A companion framework covers how to evaluate the training (Department of Health).
The statewide framework is under review. In July 2026 the government announced a review of Victoria’s Framework for Preventing and Managing Occupational Violence and Aggression, alongside a Northern Health review of violence rates with Monash University that will look at workplace design, security and training. It says it has invested more than $47 million in training, safety programs and reforms to date (Premier of Victoria).
Seclusion and restraint are being phased out. The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System recommended ending seclusion and restraint within 10 years. The department reports this as partly delivered, with services in its improvement program exceeding an early target of a 20% reduction in restrictive interventions since 2022 (recommendation 54).
Which arguments land in Victoria?
In Victoria, lead with the regulations and your own published numbers: the board already sees the occupational violence table every year.
- Compliance with the psychological health regulations. Because training can’t be the predominant control, propose it as part of a system: ward-level interventions, champions, environment changes and follow-up, as in Safewards, rather than a one-off course.
- Avoided cost. Premiums follow claims history, and a psychological claim in a public hospital averages close to $190,000. One avoided claim pays for a program in most services.
- Restrictive practice reduction. The Royal Commission’s 10-year goal needs staff who can resolve conflict without restraint. Prevention and de-escalation skills are how wards get there safely.
- Your own violence table. Quote your service’s claims per 100 FTE and incident count from last year’s annual report, then commit to tracking them after the program.
- Security and clinical together. Code Grey responses involve both. The department’s core topics include roles in those responses, which is best practised as one team.
Where can the money come from in Victoria?
Most Victorian programs are funded from the health service’s own budgets. Don’t count on the recurrent Training and Development Funding: its 2026-27 guidelines rule out occupational violence and aggression training.
| Source | What it can pay for | Who applies | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health service OV, education and WHS budgets | Programs that reduce claims and incidents | Directors of nursing, safety and people and culture | Annual budget cycle |
| Training and Development Funding | Through the Continuing Nursing and Midwifery Education program: education needs analysis, clinical risk review, program development, delivery and evaluation, and training that helps maintain national accreditation | Paid to public health services every year (capped at $250,000 each) | The 2026-27 guidelines exclude mandatory and compliance training, naming occupational violence and aggression training. Ask your CNME lead before including any of this work |
| Research partnerships | An evaluated program with a university partner | Health service research offices | The Northern Health and Monash University partnership is one model |
| WorkSafe Psychological Health Industry Trials | Trials that reduce psychological injury | Already awarded | Closed, but a $6.9m mental health ward trial shows the regulator funds this work |
See Part 3 for nurse-led funds, scholarships and philanthropy open to Victorian applicants.
Where do I find my own figures?
Victoria makes this easier than anywhere else: half the numbers are already in your annual report.
- Violence: the occupational violence table in your health service’s annual report: claims per 100 FTE, incidents, and the share causing staff injury.
- WorkCover: the premium line in your financial statements, and your claims reports from your agent.
- Incidents by unit: VHIMS reports for occupational violence, Code Greys and Code Blacks.
- Seclusion and restraint: your service’s rates from the Chief Psychiatrist’s reporting (Seclusion and Restraint Report 2020–24).
Frequently asked questions
How common is violence in Victorian public hospitals?
Almost 24,000 violent incidents were reported in Victorian public hospitals in a year, according to reporting in November 2025. Individual health services publish their own counts in the occupational violence table of their annual reports.
Do Victoria's psychological health regulations require de-escalation training?
They require employers to control psychosocial hazards, including aggression and violence. Training is one expected control, but where controls are combined, information, instruction or training must not be the predominant one, according to WorkSafe Victoria.
What does a Victorian health service pay in WorkCover premiums?
Most metropolitan health services paid between about $14m and $45m in 2024-25, and ambulance and forensic mental health services pay far more per worker than hospitals. Premiums follow each service’s claims history.
Sources
- WorkSafe Victoria, psychological health regulations FAQ
- Victorian Department of Health, occupational violence and aggression training
- Premier of Victoria, Australian-first to drive down violence in hospitals (July 2026)
- Victorian Department of Health, Royal Commission recommendation 54
- Office of the Chief Psychiatrist, Seclusion and Restraint Report 2020–24
- Sydney Morning Herald / The Age, November 2025
- Victorian Auditor-General, Employee Health and Wellbeing in Victorian Public Hospitals (2023)
- Parliamentary Budget Office, workers’ compensation premium rates
- Health service annual reports 2024-25 (linked row by row on the open data page)