Labor will fix Victoria's potholes with prisoners paid up to $9.80 a day. The money comes from three delayed level crossings.

Ben Carroll ran Victoria's roads portfolio from 2020 to 2022.

He is now the premier, seeking a fourth term for Labor in November, and his plan to fix the state's roads runs partly on prison labour.

On Sunday the government put an extra $352 million into road maintenance, doubling its target from 250,000 potholes to 500,000 by the end of January.

On Monday Mr Carroll said that if Labor is re-elected it will work with Corrections Victoria on a pilot putting supervised minimum-security prisoners onto roadsides.

They would mow, weed, clear rubbish and remove graffiti, freeing skilled crews to work on the potholes.

Under Corrections Victoria's own scale, people in prison are paid $7.15, $8.50 or $9.80 a day depending on the job.

Twenty per cent is withheld as compulsory savings until release.

At the top rate, five days of work leaves under $40 to spend.

The government says the labour "will not replace paid jobs" and will "supplement the workforce where there are skill and capacity shortages".

Greg Barns SC, of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, called it a "cynical short-term solution to a political problem for the government".

"Whilst it's always pleasing to see prisoners given the opportunity to work, unless they are paid the appropriate wage for this work, then it simply amounts to cheap labour and, in this case, for a political purpose," he said.

The state's own review reached the same conclusion four years ago.

Safer Prisons, Safer People, Safer Communities went to the corrections minister in December 2022 and found the rates were "well below rates of pay in the community".

The government did not release the report, or its response to it, until March 2024.

The rates have risen since, from a range of $6.50 to $8.95.

They remain a small fraction of the minimum wage.

The $352 million is not new money either.

It is partly offset by pushing back three level crossing removals — two at Highett, one at Mentone — by a year.

Greens justice spokesperson Katherine Copsey said Labor was "hollowing out public services and exploiting Victoria's exploding prison population for cheap labour to do the most basic things that a state government should be responsible for".

The Coalition pledged $5 billion over four years in July to patch a million potholes.

Its roads spokesperson, Danny O'Brien, called Labor's plan ridiculous and noted the government sold the spray sealing and line marking arms of SprayLine Road Services last week.

Low-security prisoners already do gardening, weeding and rubbish collection on day release.

What is new is the roadside, and the timing.

The pilot does not exist yet.

The pay rate does.