‘Clear risks to staff and clients’: The community health buildings that are falling apart

A huge chunk of Victoria’s Indigenous community health infrastructure is rundown, crumbling and posing safety risks to patients and staff.

More than 40 per cent of the sector’s total floor space is in critical condition – meaning foundations are failing, there are cracks in walls or portions of roofs could cave in at any moment.

Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place chief executive Fiona O’Leary (left) and program manager Kerry Williams in front of their condemned building in Ringwood. Credit: Justin McManus

Health and wellbeing hubs run by Aboriginal community-controlled organisations have long provided a one-stop shop for First Nations people and have demonstrated better health outcomes for community members than mainstream services. Even those that do not offer primary care will still connect people to health services while offering support for young people, parents and older generations.

But 82 per cent of the sector’s 200 or so buildings will need a partial or full replacement within the next 15 years.

Chronic infrastructure underfunding and old, hand-me-down buildings – including former residential properties, school portables, decommissioned rehabilitation centres and even an old fish and chip shop – are to blame.

The findings are contained in Infrastructure Victoria’s latest report, released on Tuesday, in collaboration with the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation. Infrastructure Victoria is the state’s independent infrastructure advisory body, while VACCHO is Victoria’s peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health organisation.

The Ringwood site is slated for demolition years after the discovery of asbestos. Credit: Justin McManus

The report says the government needs to urgently spend $150 million to renovate or replace high-risk facilities, while millions of dollars should also be set aside for ongoing maintenance and energy efficiency upgrades.

Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place chair Karen Milward knows firsthand what it’s like to put up with a rundown facility.

She remembers walking in 2019 into her organisation’s Ringwood building, which is now condemned, to find rain running down the walls.

“The elders were sitting in the hall, and they got garbage bins out, and went back to their weaving and painting.”

Almost half of Victoria’s Indigenous community health infrastructure has structural or safety issues. Credit: Justin McManus

The building deteriorated even further during the pandemic. Then, in 2022, trees fell on the roof, knocking off the front facade, revealing the presence of asbestos. Once that was safely cleaned up, the organisation was able to buy the land from the Anglican Church with the help of the state government.

Two years ago, Mullum became the first Aboriginal community organisation in Victoria to have a heritage overlay lifted as part of its plan for a knockdown-rebuild.

And while those demolition plans will soon be submitted to the local council, the organisation’s troubles are far from over. A quantity surveyor recently inspected the site and was shocked by what he found.

“When he dug up the floor, he said, ‘Oh my god, there’s no slab here. It’s just dirt’,” Milward said.

Mullum does have a temporary site in Melbourne’s north-east, given to it by a statutory water authority, but the front entrance has large, imposing gates. Community members who have had contact with the prison system don’t like to visit the site for this reason.

“It’s been a hard slog,” Milward said.

She and others at Mullum – like chief executive Fiona O’Leary and program manager Kerry Williams – hope the state government will stump up more cash for the second stage of the knockdown rebuild.

The dream is to have a two-storey building to cater for the 6000 or so Indigenous people living in Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs. The organisation has found that its youth offerings, such as its school holiday program, are particularly popular.

“There’s a sense of urgency. Some of our elders are like, ‘Karen, am I going to be here when the building’s finally done?’ I hope so.”

VACCHO chief executive Dr Jill Gallagher said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were nearly 20 per cent more likely to adhere to treatment plans provided by Aboriginal community-controlled organisations compared with mainstream health services.

“Our model of care delivers better results for our communities because it’s run by and for our communities,” Gallagher said. “But most of our funding supports service delivery, not infrastructure. This creates an overwhelming administration and maintenance burden.”

Infrastructure Victoria chief executive Dr Jonathan Spear said many Aboriginal community-controlled organisations were operating in hand-me-down buildings not designed for their current use.

“In some cases, this poses clear risks to ... staff and clients. There are also clinicians who have to work in a storeroom and staff who need to wear coats and hats inside because their buildings are unsuitable.”

Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation chief executive Dr Jill Gallagher.

An Allan government spokesperson said Aboriginal Victorians had better outcomes when government listened to community.

“We’re continuing to work with the VACCHO to put Aboriginal health in Aboriginal hands,” the spokesperson said. “Last year we invested more than $14 million to support Aboriginal health – including funding for paediatric and allied health services, culture and kinship programs, and stronger cultural safety in hospitals.”

Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said Infrastructure Victoria’s report showed what was at stake when Labor was pouring so much money into the Suburban Rail Loop.

“Under Jacinta Allan, her focus is on the SRL instead of protecting the health needs of Victoria’s Indigenous community. Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage health and it’s Victorians who are paying the price.”

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