Dr Peter Lyons and Joan Plunket protesting the closure of Burrangiri in April. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
The Burrangiri Respite Centre will remain open for two more years after the ACT Government backflipped to keep it open.
The Salvation Army-run Burrangiri Respite Centre, opposite the Rivett Shops, provides over 5000 bednights a year to aged people to allow carers “a break to relax”, but was set to close in June after the government ruled the building “unfit for purpose”.
A wave of protests by families and clients followed, with a ‘Save Burrangiri Action Group’ formed and a petition launched (which garnered more than 800 signatures).
“There is simply nowhere else for Burrangiri’s clients to go,” group convenor Dr Peter Lyons said in April.
“The centre’s existing facilities have provided enormous relief to its clients and their families for many years. We see no real ground to close it, least of all before any replacement is made available.”
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith initially said there were “a range of challenges” with the building, which made it too expensive to fix, but earlier this month, she appeared to backtrack and said the government “definitely” wanted to refurbish it.
However, she stopped short of saying it would remain as a respite centre.
“Some of [the challenges] are really about the fundamental structure of it in terms of room sizes and the appropriateness of the bathroom facilities,” she said.
“The facility doesn’t have ensuite rooms, it doesn’t have the capacity for hoists, for example, for people with limited mobility … Those big structural changes are quite significant, and they also impact … on the capacity for infection prevention and control when you’ve got someone with an infectious disease like COVID or the flu.”
She also argued that aged care was a Commonwealth responsibility, and the Burrangiri’s running cost to the ACT Government of $1.7 million per year should really be footed by the Commonwealth instead.
Burrangiri costs the ACT Government $1.7 million a year. Photo: Fiona Carrick.
The Commonwealth currently funds 78 “transition-to-care places” in the ACT, including 15 residential care services. Prior to the election, federal Labor committed $10 million to providing more respite care services in the ACT.
Ms Stephen-Smith promised to talk to ACT Senator Katy Gallagher if Labor was re-elected to see if a portion of this could go to Burrangirri.
“We would be very happy to have a conversation with them about whether that site is appropriate,” she said in early May.
Today, the minister told the ACT Legislative Assembly the government will offer The Salvation Army a tender to “continue delivery of the Burrangiri respite service for a further two years”.
“This would provide a short-term solution while the Commonwealth works through the delivery of its commitment to replace this respite care capacity,” she said.
However, she added the site’s future beyond the two-year mark remains “questionable”.
“It is important to note that while the service can continue in the short term, the directorate’s advice remains that the facility would require a significant scope of work to be fit for purpose for the delivery of quality aged care respite services in the medium term.
“To undertake these works, the facility would need to be vacated.”
She said the two government will put their heads together over the next two years to see if the $10 million is better spent on either a new facility or the extension of an existing one.
“The two-year extension of Burrangiri would allow us to work with the Commonwealth on more sustainable solutions for respite in the ACT and the best use of the funding available.”
She said the government is also working with Carers ACT to “explore options to identify land for a purpose-built respite centre”.
Independent MLA Fiona Carrick was “delighted” by the announcement, and noted Burrangiri currently provides “more than half” of the ACT’s dedicated respite bed capacity.
“It is a unique and essential service for our 50,000 carers who deserve our support,” she said.
“I acknowledge the tireless and relentless advocacy of the Save Burrangiri Action Group, particularly Penny McKenzie and Peter Lyons, who have been the driving force behind the community’s powerful advocacy on this issue.”
