New Flinders St Community Health Hub set to open in Melbourne CBD by end of 2026
A new community health centre designed to provide medical care, drug and alcohol treatment and social support for vulnerable people is expected to open in the heart of Melbourne later this year.
The Flinders Street Community Health Hub, located at 244 Flinders Street —will be operated by cohealth in partnership with the Victorian Government and is scheduled to begin operating by the end of 2026.
The facility is intended to provide a central point of care for people experiencing complex health and social problems —including substance use, homelessness and mental health challenges, particularly those who may have difficulty accessing mainstream health services.
Rather than requiring people to navigate several different services across the city, the hub will bring a range of health and social supports together at one location.
Services are expected to include primary healthcare, counselling, alcohol and other drug treatment, mental health support, care coordination and outreach. The facility will also provide practical amenities through a drop-in area equipped with a kitchen, showers, toilets and laundry facilities.
The Victorian Government says the health-led model is intended to help people receive treatment and support before their circumstances reach crisis point, while potentially reducing pressure on hospitals and emergency services.
The Flinders Street facility forms part of the government’s $95.1 million Statewide Action Plan to reduce drug harms, which is expanding treatment, outreach and harm-reduction programs across Melbourne and regional Victoria.
The plan was developed following a review of Victoria’s approach to drug-related harm led by former Victoria Police chief commissioner Ken Lay.
The government ultimately decided not to proceed with a proposed second supervised injecting room in Melbourne’s CBD. Instead, the Flinders Street hub is being developed as a broader health and social support facility. It will not operate as a supervised injecting room for illicit drugs.
However, the centre is expected to host Victoria’s first hydromorphone treatment trial, providing a medically supervised pharmaceutical treatment option for selected people experiencing persistent opioid dependence who have not responded successfully to other treatments.
The Victorian Government has previously committed $36.4 million towards establishing the Flinders Street hub, while the broader statewide drug-harm action plan represents an investment of more than $95 million.
Focus on early intervention and practical support
cohealth says the facility will provide compassionate and non-judgemental care, connecting people with health treatment as well as the practical assistance they may need to improve their circumstances.
According to cohealth, evidence indicates that health-based approaches can reduce drug-related harm by helping people access appropriate treatment and support earlier.
The building is being transformed into a purpose-built health facility with clinical consultation rooms, counselling and treatment areas and spaces for people to access day-to-day necessities.
The Victorian Health Building Authority says the hub is designed to improve access to care, support a health-based response to drug harm and help create safer communities through outreach and harm-reduction initiatives.
The project is being delivered by the Victorian Health Building Authority in partnership with cohealth, the Department of Health, Lyons Architecture and construction company Lendlease.
CBD residents and businesses watching development
The new facility is also likely to attract considerable attention from residents and businesses around Flinders Street, where concerns about homelessness, public drug use and street safety have been raised over many years.
Authorities say measures have been incorporated into the facility’s operation and design to minimise impacts on the surrounding area, while cohealth has committed to continuing engagement with the CBD community as preparations for the opening progress.
A CBD Reference Group involving community, business and government representatives has also been established to assist with coordination and information sharing.
Once operational, the Flinders Street Community Health Hub will become one of the Victorian Government’s major health-led responses to drug harm in central Melbourne, combining healthcare, addiction treatment and social assistance under one roof.
The hub is currently expected to open by the end of 2026. (NQ)
