ACT Budget: Funding announced to build community health centres in Casey and Inner South

New community health centres will be built in Casey in north Gungahlin and the Inner South, with $53 million allocated in the upcoming ACT Budget for the design, construction and feasibility work for another centre in West Belconnen.

The new health centre to be built on Kingsland Parade in Casey will have a strong focus on child and family services to meet the needs of the growing community there.

The site, near the Casey Market Town shopping centre and public transport, is part of a 2.4-hectare community services precinct that will include a much-needed indoor sports facility, and a new ambulance and fire station.

An estate development plan and subdivision design application for the precinct will be completed in 2024-25.

The new health centre was first promised in 2020 along with four others across Canberra – Molonglo, South Tuggeranong, Inner South and West Belconnen. Only Molonglo has been delivered.

The 2023-24 ACT Budget set aside $16.6 million for work on the four other community-based health centres, including the design and construction of the South Tuggeranong Health Centre in Conder and to begin planning and design work for the centres in the Inner South and North Gungahlin.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said there would be more announcements soon on the other sites in the preferred locations of Griffith in the Inner South and Ginninderry to cover West Belconnen.

She said nurses and allied health workers would staff the Casey Centre, and the government would also work with local GPs to deliver more primary care.

“People have said they need more accessible primary care, so we’ll be working with local GPs to understand what they’re seeing in the community and what support their patients need outside of their capacity to provide that, in partnership with Canberra Health Services,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.

“We’ll also be working with the Commonwealth to see how we can improve access to GPs in the ACT where we know we have the lowest rate of bulk billing in the country.”

Ms Stephen-Smith said a goal of the community health centres was to bring health care closer to where people live and keep them out of hospital wherever possible.

“This is about ensuring the community has access to preventative health care and support for chronic illness and conditions,” she said.

“It’s about providing nursing and allied health support that can enable a wraparound service in partnership with people’s GPs and the rest of the Canberra Health Service.”

The centre would have a heavy focus on child and family services because there were a lot of young growing families in Gungahlin, she said.

It might also provide dental care.

Ms Stephen-Smith said the new centre would not be like a Walk-in Centre that offered emergency care, adding that the colocation of services made sense.

“We’ve been looking at the available land in Gungahlin for a range of community facilities following the community needs analysis and engagement with the local community,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.

“The great thing about Casey Market Town is that it is a real hub for the community and it makes sense to bring some of those services together with other community assets that people are already using so people know where to go.”

Canberra Liberals health spokesperson Leanne Castley said the health centres were first promised in 2020 and like many other infrastructure projects take too long to materialise.

Ms Castley said people were sick of government promises and just want it to get on with delivering what was needed.

She said this was particularly felt in Gungahlin where growth had outpaced amenities and roads were choked with congestion.

It was also unclear if the health centre would have GP services and where staff would come from, Ms Castley said.

The government has opened community consultation on the Casey centre.

The ACT Budget will be handed down on 25 June.