Nearly half of Victoria's state roads are in poor or very poor condition, according to a fresh report from the Victorian Auditor-General's Office — and former VicRoads engineers say decades of privatised road construction and maintenance are largely to blame.

The Auditor-General's Maintaining State Roads report, released this week, found that approximately 48 per cent of state roads were rated poor or very poor as of 2024. The findings have landed amid a Victorian election campaign in which road quality has emerged as a key voter concern, with the major parties all making significant roadworks promises.

How Victoria's Roads Were Built — and Why That Matters

Former VicRoads road construction engineer Jeff Moran says the root of the problem begins with the type of pavement used to build the state's roads. He explains there are two fundamental approaches: flexible pavement, made from compacted crushed rock and then sealed, and rigid pavement, which is bound together like concrete into a single solid slab beneath the surface.

Flexible pavement is cheaper to lay but does not last as long as its rigid counterpart. Moran notes that rigid pavement is widely favoured internationally, yet Victoria has predominantly relied on the cheaper crushed-rock method.

"Overseas, rigid pavements are very much the go," Moran said. "But in Victoria … they basically went for the crushed-rock type."

He says the flexible pavement system can work — but only when it is properly maintained through resealing every decade to keep water out, combined with regular road patrols. The problem, he argues, is that this maintenance has been systematically neglected since road construction and upkeep were privatised under the Kennett Liberal government in the mid-to-late 1990s. Moran believes the state's western highways should now be rebuilt using full-depth rigid pavement.

Privatisation Cut Corners and Drained Expertise

Another former VicRoads worker, Gary Rusmand, who later moved to Western Australia to work on regional roads, says the shift to privatised road management had a direct impact on quality and workforce skills.

When the government moved away from in-house road management, he says, experienced workers followed the money into private companies — where demand for their skills was high and wages were better. But private operators faced a fundamental tension between profit margins and the level of maintenance required.

"Working for a private enterprise, you have got to make money, and you have got to make a profit," Rusmand said. "The dollar wasn't going as far, so there was a reduction in repairs."

He adds that government funding did not keep pace with rising costs, meaning the volume of repairs simply declined over time.

Rusmand points to Western Australia as a cautionary tale turned success story. After years of privatised road maintenance, WA brought the work back in-house around four years ago — and Rusmand says the results are visible.

"I can see the improvement in the road network [in WA] over the last 10 years and significantly over the last four to five," he said.

Rising Safety Standards Adding to the Cost Burden

Retired VicRoads engineer John Lambert raises a separate but related pressure: the dramatically increased cost of meeting modern workplace safety requirements on road maintenance crews.

"Instead of having a two-man crew, you might have six, or you might have 12 to cover all of the safety aspects," Lambert said.

He says the Victorian government will ultimately need to make a decision about whether to bring traffic management back in-house alongside road maintenance — a move that could streamline operations but would require significant upfront commitment.

Political Pressure Builds Ahead of Victorian Election

With the Victorian election approaching, pothole politics has taken centre stage. Complaints about blown tyres and dangerous road conditions have dominated talkback radio and letters to newspapers across the state, particularly in regional areas such as south-west Victoria.

The Auditor-General's damning assessment has given added weight to those grievances and intensified pressure on all parties to deliver credible, lasting solutions — not just pre-election patch jobs.