The Victorian Government is urgently responding to recommendations from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System with a $801 million investment to deliver 260 new acute public mental health beds.
The new beds, including 236 hospital-based beds and 24 home-based beds, will be delivered across multiple Victorian health services to address increased demand on our system as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new hospital-based beds and services will be located at:
The home-based beds will be delivered by Barwon Health and Orygen Youth Health.
The project will increase capacity, reduce pressure on emergency departments, and provide additional support for people experiencing mental illness who require immediate treatment in a contemporary, safe and high-quality setting.
Once complete, the new hospital-based beds will provide more than 93,504 days of care, enabling 6,500 more Victorians to access vital mental health services every year.
The program will deliver over 1,450 jobs during construction and all four facilities are expected to be progressively completed by 2023.
What's new
Construction complete at Sunshine Mental Health and Wellbeing Centre
Take a first look at the new centre at Western Health’s Sunshine Hospital in St Albans. It will allow 1,153 more Victorians to get the care and treatment they need each year.
The Victorian Government is responding to a recommendation from the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System through the urgent delivery of more acute mental health facilities and services.
These services will address critical demand issues by increasing capacity, reducing pressure on emergency departments, and providing additional support for people experiencing mental illness who require immediate treatment.
More acute mental health beds and services will mean more access for people experiencing severe mental illness, taking the pressure off other public health services.
What level of care will be provided?
Increased hospital-based care will be provided for people experiencing mental illness who require immediate treatment in a contemporary, safe and high-quality hospital setting.
Home-based services will enable some consumers to recover at home, or in a community residence, so they can remain more connected to their family, friends and community-based supports.
Who will be supported by these new services?
Severe mental illness affects a range of people from different family, cultural, economic and social backgrounds. The new facilities and services will provide people with better access to mental health services and support and reduce pressure on emergency departments.
What is going to be different about the new hospital-based facilities?
The new facilities are being designed with input from people with lived experience of mental illness such as consumers, families and carers, as well as medical, nursing and allied health professionals and staff.
The facilities will look and feel less like a hospital and provide access to shared internal and outdoor spaces for social, therapeutic and recreational activities to support consumers’ changing needs throughout their stay.
Where is the project up to?
The project is now in the final design development phase, which is where we plan how to effectively equip and decorate spaces to deliver the best possible patient experience.
Who are you consulting with?
We’re committed to engaging people with a variety of views and perspectives during the project. This includes people with lived experience of mental illness and their carers, medical, nursing and allied health professionals and care staff. We’re taking on their views in an experience-led design process to ensure they inform important aspects of the project.
We’re also working in partnership with both health and mental health services. Our partners are a central part of our consultation process and will participate in project planning, including the development of the designs for each facility and service.
Victorians will soon have better access to mental health support with construction underway to transform and expand an existing mental health facility at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
The Mental Health Beds Expansion Program has won the Infrastructure (Planning and Design) category at the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Australasia 2021 Core Valu...
Residents in Greater Geelong will soon have better access to mental health support, with construction started on a state-of-the-art acute mental health facility at the McKellar Centre.
The designs include impressions of the exteriors, grounds, gardens and internal fit outs for four new acute mental health facilities in St Albans, Parkville, Epping and Geelong. The design o...
We’re one step closer to providing 144 new mental health beds across Victorian public health services with a $492 million funding increase announced today.
News
Gallery
Clicking the "Previous" button changes the display below the button. Clicking the "Next" button changes the display above the button
The following tab controls change the content above
The Victorian Government’s investment into the Mental Health Beds Expansion Program has delivered 16 acute mental health beds at the McKellar Centre, Geelong.
The Victorian Government’s investment into the Mental Health Beds Expansion Program will deliver 30 mental health beds at the Northern Hospital, Epping.
The Victorian Government’s investment into the Mental Health Beds Expansion Program has delivered 52 acute mental health beds at Sunshine Hospital, St. Albans.
The Victorian Government’s investment into the Mental Health Beds Expansion Program delivered 22 acute mental health beds at The Royal Melbourne Hospital.
The Victorian Government invested $60 million to redevelop the Orygen and OYH Poplar Road precinct for the treatment and prevention of youth mental health, completed in November 2018.