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The highways in Victoria are the highest density in any state in Australia. Unlike Australia's other mainland states where vast areas are very sparsely inhabited "outback", population centres spread out over most of the state, with only the far north-west and the Victorian Alps lacking permanent settlement. Highways have therefore been built to service the population centres.
The highways generally radiate from Melbourne and other major cities and rural centres with secondary roads interconnecting the highways to each other.
Most routes have higher traffic than most other states. Highways such as Hume Highway, Western Highway, South Gippsland Highway and Princes Highway have some of the heaviest traffic in Australia.
Many of the highways are built to freeway standard ("M" freeways), while most others are generally sealed and of reasonable quality.