Today I visited the Peacock Centre that was damaged by a fire on Christmas Eve.
The rebuild of the Peacock Centre is an important piece of infrastructure for Statewide Mental Health Services. I’m pleased to confirm that while the fire is obviously a setback and will delay the centre’s scheduled completion, the rebuild will go ahead.
The Tasmanian Government remains committed to seeing this project come to life, and we will provide an update on revised project timeframes as soon as they are available following the post-fire assessment process.
Having visited the site today and witnessing the devastating impact that this fire has had on the facility, I feel deflated and saddened for the many Tasmanians who would have benefited from this service from mid-2022.
My thoughts are also with the project team, builders and contractors who have worked tirelessly to bring this project to fruition. I thank them for their dedication and hard work to date. This project has enormous community goodwill and while this setback hits hard we will continue to see it through to completion.
The heritage building, known as Ruardean, is being redeveloped after fire damage in December 2016, and will operate as an integrated mental health service hub. A 12-bed wing will provide short-term stays for people who need extra care or integration back into the community following a hospital stay.
The ground level will be part of the Continuing Care Stream and operate as an integration hub, bringing together a range of care and support services.
The hub will help people through their recovery journey, with a range of services including housing, alcohol and drug, social, and employment.
These new models will reduce hospital admissions and readmissions for Tasmanian’s living with mental illness.
More Media Releases from Jeremy Rockliff
More Media Releases from the Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing