In Victoria, potholes have become a hot issue in the lead-up to the state election in November.

According to National Transport Research Organisation, Victoria has the worst pothole problem in Australia.

Potholes can damage a vehicle’s tyres, wheels, suspension, undercarriage and more. The increase in heavy vehicles on Australian roads has worsened road deterioration. Climate change is also playing a role.

This week, the Victorian government announced an extra $352 million to double its pothole-repair target to 500,000 by the end of January 2027. It said the investment would be partially offset by delaying three planned level crossings by a year.

Read more: Victoria plans to get prisoners to help maintain roads. How common is prison work in Australia and what are the issues?

The Coalition has separately promised $5 billion over four years for road maintenance, including a target of one million pothole repairs.

Potholes – of all things – are suddenly a hot political issue.

How bad is the problem?

The national Snap Send Solve platform states road and pothole problems have increased 27% nationally in the year to June 2026.

As the name suggests, it’s a community-based snapshot of potholes, not a comprehensive pavement-condition survey, so it cannot tell us precisely how much Australian roads have deteriorated.

Current national road-condition data is limited and inconsistent, which makes it difficult to make a reliable state-by-state comparison.

However there is anecdotal evidence........

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