A hydraulic control device is provided with a linear solenoid valve, a shift valve, and a controller. The linear solenoid valve has a gain switching chamber which produces a biasing force in a direction to close the linear solenoid valve to switch the gain characteristic of the linear solenoid valve when oil pressure is supplied to the gain switching chamber. The shift valve is configured to be switchable between a supply state in which the output oil pressure from the linear solenoid valve is supplied to the gain switching chamber and a blocked state in which the supply of the output oil pressure is blocked. The controller brings the shift valve into the supply state when a necessary oil pressure of an engagement element is high and into the blocked state when the necessary oil pressure of the engagement element is low.