Mickleham quarantine centre to stay open until end of the year

The Mickleham quarantine centre is likely to remain open as a COVID-19 facility until the end of this year, with $120 million set aside by the state government to meet ongoing running costs.

An average of 85 residents per week have stayed at the centre since it opened in February, after the federal government paid more than half a billion dollars to provide 1000 beds for people to isolate from the community.

The newly constructed quarantine centre in Mickleham.Credit: Paul Jeffers

Due to a lack of demand, the centre will be scaled down to 250 beds from July 1 — the same day that the Howard Springs quarantine facility in the Northern Territory will be closed.

The Commonwealth owns the facility, however, the state government is responsible for meeting its operation and maintenance costs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A federal government spokesperson said its arrangement with the state government runs until December 31, with extension options “available by agreement”.

The Community and Public Sector Union, which represents workers at the facility, has also been told that it has funding until Christmas.

The Mickleham facility includes a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen.Credit: Paul Jeffers

While COVID-19 infections continue to climb in Victoria, there has been a shift away from the importance of quarantine since Mickleham was first proposed due to high vaccination rates.

By the time Mickleham takes its last COVID-19 case, more than $1.5 billion will have been spent on quarantine in Victoria since midway through 2021.

Mickleham was initially predicted to cost the federal budget $200 million, but that figure ended up being $580 million by the time it was finished.

The exact running cost of Mickleham has not been revealed. However, state budget papers show that state government agency COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria (CQV) spent $839.7 million this financial year, including the cost of 17 hotels used for quarantine before Mickleham opened. A further $120.3 million has been allocated to CQV for 2022/23.

Guest rooms at the new quarantine hub in Mickleham.Credit: Paul Jeffers

The business case for the facility said that quarantine was “expected to continue in some form at least over the next two-to-three years”, with 2100 international arrivals expected to come to Victoria per week.

Multiplex won the contract to build Victoria’s Centre for National Resilience, as it is known, as well as corresponding facilities in Western Australia and Queensland.

Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed last week that he was taking briefings on how Mickleham could be repurposed, including possibly housing refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan.

Andrews also pointed out that the federal government would decide what its next use would be, not the state government.

Ventilation at the Victorian Quarantine Hub in Mickleham.Credit: Paul Jeffers

“It’s not ours, that’s the first point,” he told reporters.

“There’s lots of federal police in Victoria too but they don’t work for me. You’d have to talk to the Commonwealth government about the status of their facility, which they bought, paid for.”

A federal government spokesperson said the Department of Finance was working with agencies across the Commonwealth and the states to consider future uses for the quarantine facilities.

The need for a purpose-built quarantine centre in Victoria was announced by Premier Andrews during a snap lockdown in February last year, when the state government decided to shift away from using hotels.

A verandah at the Mickleham quarantine.Credit: Paul Jeffers

Aside from refugee accommodation, other suggestions that have been proposed for Mickleham include emergency housing for people fleeing disasters, such as bushfires and floods.

There are currently 59 people staying at Mickleham, including 10 new arrivals on Friday.

Since February, 1451 people have stayed at the Mickleham centre. CQV said 226 of those were travellers, 186 were maritime crew and 1039 were community members and frontline workers.

Staff numbers at the centre have been reduced from 550 to 192.

“CQV is providing accommodation and care for COVID-positive community members, and frontline workers, who cannot safely isolate at home,” a spokesperson said.

“This is a critically important service, particularly over the winter period.”

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