It comes as this week’s federal budget reveals most of the $2 billion savings in health will come from programs aimed at preventive medicine.

Lobby group Victorian Healthcare Association says the government has failed to consider preventive health in the long-term in the face of growing levels of chronic disease and hospitalisations.

But Ms Ley says she expects the nation’s primary health networks - which will replace Medicare Locals from July 1 - to fill the void and take the leading role in the sector.

The government last year abolished any further funding to the national partnership agreement on preventive health when it expires on June 30, and its associated agency, which Ms Ley called “no more than a bureacracy”. That measure will save more than $370 million over four years.

That funding contributed to the Victorian Government’s Healthy Together program which aimed to encourage healthy communities and lifestyles, and included bringing Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food to Wodonga.

This weke’s budget showed the government plans to find another $963 million in savings over five years in ‘flexible funds’, which are reserved for a range of community health schemes including: chronic disease prevention, communicable disease prevention, substance misuse prevention, rural health outreach, and practice incentives for general practice.

“Rationalising” preventive health research is also on the chopping block. 

Asked how the cuts married with her self-declared focus on preventive health, Ms Ley said the savings would amount to 7 per cent.

“I’m not going to comment on individual projects, except to say there aren’t many spending projects that can’t be managed with a 7 per cent save and I will work with all the organisations to do that,” she said.

“There is no hitlist - some of these organisations do good work and they will continue to do good work... but part of managing the budget is realising these modest saves.

“I will manage that carefully to see that individual organisations don’t miss out... and reasonably take 7 per cent across the (flexible funds) program.”

Ms Ley said the new primary health networks would be “key” to future preventive health, given their focus on specific regions.

Asked if the networks would have the funding and capability to take on this role, Ms Ley said: “The full budgets will be released on July 1. We are finalising arrangements for the allocation of money - I’m not saying now what each will receive but it will be substantial.”

The government also announced in the budget more money for immunisation and cancer screenings, which Ms Ley said were also geared toward preventive health.

But VHA acting chief executive Tom Symondson said the broader picture in preventive health was lacking.

“These are very specific and targeted programs, when want to see more for prevention as a whole, which is what the partnership provided,” he said.

Mr Symondson agreed primary health networks could lead the way but questioned “where’s the additional funding to help focus on prevention?”

“Without a fairly significant injection in funding, they’re going to find that quite difficult.”