Construction is underway on a 16-bed short-stay mental health service in Adelaide’s North, designed to offer immediate support for people experiencing a mental health crisis or suicidal distress. The $22 million Crisis Stabilisation Centre, delivered by the Malinauskas Labor government, is scheduled to open early next year and will operate around the clock.
The centre has been co-designed with people who have lived experience of mental distress and crisis. It will provide stays of up to three nights and include counselling rooms, a family lounge, and communal social areas. The environment aims to be homely and therapeutic, combining clinical care with peer support, Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing workers, and multicultural workers.
LELAN, South Australia’s peak body for people with lived experience, contributed to the centre’s physical design and Philosophy of Care, ensuring services are informed by those with firsthand experience. The Northern Adelaide Medicare Mental Health Centre will relocate to the building’s ground floor, continuing to provide free, walk-in mental health support without the need for a referral or Medicare card.
The construction of the second storey is about to begin, with roof steel installation planned for the end of the month. The centre is part of the state government’s broader plan to create over 130 new mental health beds, aiming to relieve pressure on emergency departments while offering care in a less clinical setting.
Health officials emphasise the centre’s model of care as trauma-informed, culturally safe, and centred on individual needs. People accessing the service will benefit from peer specialists and a network of community supports, helping ensure continuity of care beyond the centre.
Government and health leaders describe the facility as a contemporary approach to crisis care, providing a high ratio of peer workers and embedding the input of people with lived experience in every aspect of its design. The project is on track to welcome its first patients in early 2026, offering an emergency pathway to mental health services within the Lyell McEwin Hospital Precinct.
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