Chinchilla’s Illoura Village to house 81 people and create 30 new jobs as $36m development prepares to welcome residents

After five years and an investment of $36m a new aged care facility will soon open and is expected to have far reaching positive outcomes for the Western Downs community. Find out more here.

Southern Cross Care Queensland will open Illoura Village in Chinchilla in February 2025.

The Western Downs will celebrate the opening of the first new residential aged care facility in 16 years when Southern Cross Care Queensland officially opens the $36m Illoura Village in Chinchilla.

The state-of-the-art aged care village comes equipped with 81 beds, private dining rooms, gardens, communal areas and places of worship for all faiths and was made possible thanks to $18.5m from SCCQ and $17.5m in Australian government funding through the Aged Care Approval Round.

SCCQ chief executive Jason Eldering said they were excited to be opening their doors on February 18 with the project highlighting their commitment to rural aged care and the Chinchilla community.

“We are delighted not just for Southern Cross Care, but for the community and the people who live there, it will have a positive impact on their lives and it is a great thing for the community,” he said.

“We have something that will last 40 years and it builds upon the great work that was done by the people of Chinchilla, we have been entrusted to these things and as trustees you have an obligation to keep.”

Chinchilla Aged Care

Mr Eldering said the new facility was a top of the range aged care home.

“This facility gives the people in Chinchilla and surrounding areas the opportunity to have access to a first class aged care facility and services,” he said.

“It is 81 beds, it is fully airconditioned, it has beautiful lifestyle areas, it has places for social interactions, private dining rooms, it is designed for people to live their best lives,” he said.

“It has all of the aspects of home, it has gardens, beautiful outside spaces, it is safe built to a 9c code and it is built age appropriate.

“It even has a place of worship which is important for people of different faiths, we are Catholic, but it touches on all denominations as well. Spirituality is important to a lot of us as we age.

“I am really proud of what we have achieved there and it will be measured in the quality of people’s lifestyles.”

Chinchilla aged care

Mr Eldering said it had been a long time coming and not without its challenges, but they had built something everyone could be proud of.

“It has been nearly five years in the making, we have been very lucky to receive funding through the Department of Health and Aging, we said to the government we will put 50 per cent in if you can (too),” he said.

“Building aged care regionally is more expensive and metro areas have the bigger median house prices so they are able to charge more for things, but it’s important because the demographic in most of our regional towns are higher than metro areas.

“We talked to the community and they said they wanted access to high quality aged care and access to a good workforce so we did some work with Southern Queensland Rural Health and what were able to do is develop something out there that is outstanding.

“To build it is a big journey, we got the grant in 2020, then we got to work and did all the planning, Covid came and trying to build things was incredibly difficult, there were some tough times, but through our partners we pulled together a great team and we were able to deliver it.

“We tipped in $18.5m to the project and that is a significant amount of money for us, but the stuff that is worthwhile always goes OK, it just takes a bit of courage to get these things going.”

Mr Eldering said the facility was expected to have positive flow on effects for the whole community.

“The hospitals are under a lot of pressure because there isn't enough new age care, we are extending that and that will free up beds in the Chinchilla and Base Hospital, it will also go a way to stopping some of the ramping issues at hospital,” he said.

“We need more new age care in the region to stop people from unnecessarily going to hospital because getting access to aged care has been really tough.

“It has also been difficult getting home care packages around Australia so it will be significant thing for the community.

“The facility will also create another 20-30 jobs for the community, for the young people it will give them jobs which is great for the community, the benefits are so significant.”