The upgrade is part of a record $4.5 million boost in new safety initiatives, marking the largest community safety investment in the City of Melbourne's history.
Melbourne’s famed laneways are set to get a major glow-up, with $1 million allocated in the City of Melbourne’s draft Budget 2025–26 to upgrade lighting across some of the city’s busiest and most dimly lit areas.
The lighting project will target key laneways and streets, including Hardware Lane, Rothsay Lane, Swanston Street, Bourke Hill, the Collins Street bridge, Plane Tree Way, Matthews Mews and Baulderstone Walk. The initiative aims to improve visibility, enhance perceptions of safety and support the city’s bustling night-time economy.
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The funding is part of a broader safety package designed to make city streets cleaner, better lit and more secure. It includes a $2.1 million expansion of the Safe City Camera Program, which will activate more than 100 new CCTV cameras across the municipality. The Victorian Government is also contributing to this initiative.
Another $2 million will go toward increasing council’s visible safety presence, with a continued focus on collaboration with Victoria Police and local businesses to ensure a coordinated response to public safety concerns.
“Melbourne is a safe city, but we have problem areas and behaviours, and we need to do more,” says Lord Mayor Nick Reece.
“Our budget proposes the biggest investment in safety in council’s history – with more boots on the ground, more CCTV cameras and new lighting for our iconic laneways.”
Beyond safety, the city is also set to ramp up its cleaning operations, with nearly $60 million committed to keeping Melbourne’s streets, public infrastructure and laneways clean. Council will invest $59.8 million to remove litter and graffiti, collect residential rubbish and recycling, and maintain public spaces.
The City of Melbourne’s Clean Team, which now operates around the clock, is set to remove more than 130,000 square metres of graffiti in the 2025–26 financial year — roughly six and a half times the size of the MCG and 10,000 square metres more than the previous year.
Community feedback on the draft Budget 2025–26 is open via Participate Melbourne from 6pm on Tuesday 13 May until 5pm on Monday 2 June.
