Canberra’s first on-campus retirement community to create hundreds of student jobs

University of Canberra has announced plans for an on-campus aged care facility that will connect elderly residents with students and create 230 jobs by 2035.

The University of Canberra’s project will include collaborative employment programs for university students, placement opportunities for students, and research into aged care and retirement living.

An on-campus aged care facility will link elderly retirees with young students and cutting-edge healthcare research, as the University of Canberra creates the nation’s second intergenerational retirement community.

The first of its kind in the ACT, the OpalHealthCare facility will be built on the university’s Bruce campus, near its hospital and health hubs, under a 100-year lease agreement with Pariter property development.

Student nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists will be able to apply for work or placements at the facility, which will create 230 jobs when it opens between 2031 and 2035.

Vice-chancellor Bill Shorten – a former federal government minister in charge of the National Disability Insurance Scheme – said the development would integrate senior living, healthcare, education and community engagement to “strengthen the ­social fabric of Canberra’’.

“This project will create a living and learning environment where older Australians can stay engaged, active and connected – not only with health services, but with ideas, students, and the ­vibrant university campus life,’’ he said at the project launch on Tuesday.

“It will create a benchmark for intergenerational living on university campuses, one which I hope will be replicated across the country in years to come.

“The residents, in a very short walk, can be in university life, so they can go have their coffee next to young people, they can go and see what the university is doing, there will be a retail centre and … home care services.’’

Mr Shorten said the university “prides itself on real-world training’’ with work-integrated learning”.

“Having an aged care facility here … will not only be good for OpalHealthCare in terms of the care they can promise the people living here, but it means that we can continue our world-class training and research for students from allied health, the built environment through to nursing and many other vocations that we teach so well here,’’ he said.

The University of Wollongong previously announced a 180-bed aged care facility, co-located with childcare on campus, although it has yet to open.

The University of Canberra’s project will include collaborative employment programs for university students, placement opportunities for students, and research into aged care and retirement living.

The development will include 230 independent living units, a 180-bed aged care facility, community wellness facilities and an extension to the university’s health precinct.

The university will not have to fund the $150m development cost and will pocket revenue from the long-term lease, although the details are commercial-in-confidence.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr welcomed the “innovative, integrated healthcare model’’, which he said would improve the lives of Canberrans as they age.

“It will place a strong focus on connection to community, while making sure older people have access to education and the services they need,’’ he said.

Pariter, a specialist developer and operator of community infrastructure, will lead the design and delivery of the master plan.

“We’re proud to co-create a model for intergenerational living that is sustainable, socially enriching, and future-focused,’’ Pariter chief executive Tom Roche said.

“This is smart precinct development with long-term community impact at its core.”