Yerrabi Yurwang Health Hub’s services will have to be put on hold unless the corporation can get an injection of funds. Photo: Facebook.
Canberra’s only northside Aboriginal Health Service will have to pause its services unless the Federal and ACT Governments step in.
Yerrabi Yurwang is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Service, meaning it is owned and operated by Aboriginal people. Its corporation was set up in 2019, and its Health Hub officially opened at the end of 2024.
It now has more than 400 patients on file.
Yerrabi Yurwang Child & Family Aboriginal Corporation strategy policy and research manager Dr Guy Gillor said there had been great need for a Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHO) in Canberra’s north.
“[We] conducted a large survey in 2022, and we followed up again with our 2024 Survey which clearly highlighted the aspirations of the local Aboriginal Community,” he said.
“We were being responsive to the needs and aspirations of our local Aboriginal Community … very few GPs in the ACT bulk bill but GPs alone will not close any of [the gaps experienced by Indigenous people].
“Our ACCHO model provides a unique structure for the delivery of accessible, wholistic, and culturally appropriate care to communities. It is non judgemental, so our People don’t have to endure racism at that level. We also help them to navigate the health system.”
But since it has no direct government funding, it’s already considering pausing its services.
The corporation has been trying to get the attention of the ACT and Federal governments on the lack of Aboriginal-led services in Canberra’s north, including in a May 2025 submission to both governments.
Dr Gillor said conversations had been happening but nothing concrete.
“Fundamentally the system is failing our People, which is evident is the continuing appalling data,” he said.
“We live in hope.”
Yerrabi Yurwang has a petition before the Legislative Assembly, sponsored by ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury, calling for appropriate funding allocations for “the right services when needed”, support for existing Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, assurance that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT have appropriate pathways to specialist care, and assurance those who live in Canberra’s north (or who would like to access Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in the north) can do so.
The Canberra Liberals have recently jumped behind the Health Hub, calling on both governments to urgently provide funding so it doesn’t have to pause its operations.
“The ACT Government needs to act and cannot delay. Aboriginal Health Services on the northside deserve a share of funding for performing valuable services to the Territory’s First Nations community,” Ginninderra Canberra Liberals MLA Chiaka Barry said.
“The Canberra community is best served by having multiple viable and supported Aboriginal Health Services.”
A key measure of overall Indigenous access to health services is through the General Annual Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Check (Medicare rebate item 715).
The ACT has the second-lowest rate of 715 rebates being accessed in the country, and the northern suburbs of Canberra record lower rates than the south.
Liberal ACT Senate candidate Nick Tyrrell said the Prime Minister’s words on Closing the Gap needed to be matched with action, and supporting Yerrabi Yurwang was one way to do so.
“Health is one of the four areas of Closing the Gap where results are going backwards. Refusing to fund a community-based Aboriginal Health Service like Yerrabi Yurwang doesn’t make any sense given the additional funding now available,” he said.
“I’m calling for the ACT Government, and particularly Andrew Leigh as the member for Fenner, to make sure that Canberra’s northside Aboriginal Health Service receives its fair share of funding from these new national funding commitments.”
Both ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith and Federal Finance Minister Katy Gallagher have confirmed they have met with Yerrabi Yurwang board members to discuss their financial situation.
“I’ve written to my federal counterpart Mark Butler to encourage the Commonwealth to talk to Yerrabi and consider the demand for Aboriginal community-controlled health services in Canberra’s north,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“Both primary care and Aboriginal community-controlled medical services are the responsibility of the Commonwealth government primarily, and so it is important that we understand that they have some level of ongoing funding beyond just Medicare benefits, if the ACT government is going to put in funding.”
Ms Stephen-Smith said the government understood the need for culturally safe medical services, but that many more conversations would need to be held if the ACT was to foot some of the bill.
“I really encourage the Commonwealth government to consider what it can do, certainly for the medium to longer-term, because if we’re going to put in funding in the short-term, it can’t just be a stopgap, we need to ensure that it is going to be a sustainable service,” she said.
“We also would have some considerations around procurement and probity if we were going to put in a significant amount of funding.
Katy Gallagher said she’s met with Yerrabi “a couple of times” and that discussions were “ongoing”.
