North West Women’s Prevention and Recovery Care Centre

176 Furlong Road, St Albans, Victoria, 3021, Australia

The Victorian Government is investing $8.4 million to build a new 12-bed Prevention and Recovery Care (PARC) centre in Melbourne’s west to support women experiencing mental illness.

Based near Sunshine Hospital, the new centre will be the first prevention and recovery care centre to provide residential treatment and support to women with additional accommodation for dependent young children.

The centre will provide treatment for women who are becoming mentally unwell, or who are in the early stages of recovering from an acute mental illness and need a short-term additional support.

The new facility is one of 25 PARC centres across Melbourne and regional Victoria, providing vital care for people experiencing mental ill health, but no longer needing hospital treatment.

The program is part of the Victorian Government’s $325.7 million investment in mental health services outlined in the 10-year Mental Health Plan. The new facility is due to be completed in mid-2022.

New prevention and recovery care site announcement

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$8.4 MILLION

INVESTMENT

12-BED

PURPOSE-BUILT WOMEN'S MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY

3 BEDS

FOR DEPENDANT CHILDREN

HOLISTIC

RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT IN COMMUNITY SETTING

Scope

The new North West Women’s Prevention and Recovery Care centre will provide safe, flexible and responsive treatment and care to women experiencing mental illness including:

12 bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms
additional capacity to accommodate up to three dependent children
shared living spaces including kitchen, dining, lounge, laundry and family / activity areas
outdoor living, family and garden areas
clinical consulting areas
staff and support areas.

Benefits

The North West Women’s Prevention and Recovery Care centre aims to deliver the following benefits:

Increased capacity

This new purpose-built 12-bed facility will enable more Victorian women to access specialist mental health treatment and support in a residential environment.

The North West Women’s PARC centre will increase the range and number of safe, flexible and responsive mental health services available in northwest metropolitan Melbourne and is expected to help 150 women each year (based on 12 beds with an average 28-day stay).

Family-first

The new North West Women’s PARC centre will be the first in the state to provide accommodation for accompanying dependants, with the facility offering the flexibility to add up to three additional beds for young children.

There is currently only one women-only PARC service available in Victoria, a 10-bed facility in Springvale. The addition of this new centre will provide increased family-inclusive services which are essential for effective therapeutic treatment.

Residential support, close to home

With around-the-clock treatment and support, the centre aims to offer a safe and supportive residential setting for people suffering mental illness who may find it difficult to cope at home. The centre helps fill the service gap between community and hospital-based care.

Therapeutic design

The facility will create a welcoming, therapeutic and supportive environment for women and their children, while providing recovery-focused, holistic mental health treatment and support.

Co-ordinated, recovery-oriented treatment and support

PARCs are designed to improve the integration of recovery orientated care and support services.

Residents can access holistic treatment programs in a supportive, residential environment where they can establish their recovery plan and connect with the services they need, close to home.