Consultation for Darwin’s new multimillion-dollar Adult Mental Health Centre to begin this month

THE location for Darwin’s new multimillion-dollar Adult Mental Health Centre is expected to be decided soon, with the consultation process kicking off in October ahead of a proposed June 2021 opening.

• NT to get first purpose-built mental health facility with $50m funding under new National Health Reform Agreement

THE location for Darwin’s new multimillion-dollar Adult Mental Health Centre is expected to be decided soon, with the consultation process kicking off in October ahead of a proposed June 2021 opening.

The Northern Territory Primary Health Network (NT PHN) has been allocated $14m from the federal government over four years to establish and operate the adult mental health centre.

NT PHN chief executive Gill Yearsley said they were looking to use existing infrastructure in Darwin for the centre instead of constructing a brand-new building.

NT PHN chief executive Gill Yearsley. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

Ms Yearsley said the centre, which will service clients aged 25 years and older, would need to be located in an easily accessible and convenient location in Darwin, close to public transport.

“We will be starting consultation across the sector in October and working to have a model for the centre by March 2021,” she said.

The centre is to be commissioned by June 2021, she said.

“This means Territorians will be able to access these services in the second half of 2021.”

The investment comes as mental health providers are seeing a surge in people asking for help during the coronavirus pandemic.

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The Northern Territory has held the record for the highest suicide rate per capita in Australia for the past decade.

Ms Yearsley said the new centre would address some of the current gaps for Territorians experiencing high levels of distress or suicidal crisis.

The centre will also offer extended hours, which will ease some of the burden currently on hospital emergency departments.

A critical shortage of mental health beds at Royal Darwin Hospital has pushed mental health patients into medical and surgical wards for years.

Doctors told the NT News last year they were concerned the overflow was “putting lives at risk”.

As part of the National Health Reform Agreement, the federal government has committed to providing a $50m investment in mental health facilities and services in the Northern Territory over five years to 2024/25.

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Of the funds, $14m will go towards covering operational costs for NT PHN’s adult community mental health facility over four years.

The NT government will receive $30m to establish a separate purpose-built mental health facility in Darwin over two years from 2020-21.

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