DAVID SMITH, MEMBER FOR BEAN: Look, it's great here to be here in Ngunnawal and Ngambri country here in Coombs for what is the delivery of some great infrastructure, which is going to provide, and will fill an important gap in community health here in Canberra. For me, as a federal member, it's great to be here with two governments that can work together, with my colleague Emma McBride, the Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, and with the ACT Minister for Mental Health as well too. So it's great to be here. We've had a fantastic tour of these offices and I'd like to introduce my friend, Emma McBride.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Thank you. Emma McBride, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. I'm so proud to be here on behalf of the Albanese Labor government for the official opening of the ACT ED [eating disorder] centre, working in strong collaboration with the ACT Government, Minister Emma Davidson. And I want to acknowledge my colleague David Smith, the Federal Member for Bean, who's been such a strong advocate for improved access to quality care within the community.
We know that in Australia today, it's estimated that about 1.1 million Australians experiencing eating disorders in all body shapes and sizes and in all times of life. This centre will provide evidence-based quality care from a multi-disciplinary team, and I want to thank Sarah Toohey, the operations director for the tour this morning, and for us to understand what a patient's journey would be like.
Someone can come to the centre if they're 16 and over, if they have a primary diagnosis of an eating disorder, and if they're suitable to be cared for in the community. As I mentioned, this will be staffed by a multidisciplinary team. And as a pharmacist myself who worked in mental health centres, to see that this will be staffed by a nurse practitioner, a clinical nurse consultant, a social worker, dietitians, exercise physiologists, the right kind of wraparound support and care that someone will need, including a general practitioner and nurses to monitor their physical health as part of their recovery journey, and specialist psychologists and psychiatrists as needed as part of that wraparound multidisciplinary team to provide that person the right kind of support and care in their recovery journey.
This funding is part of $63 million contributed nationally from the Albanese Labor Government. $13 .5 million here for the construction and fit out of this ACT, very thoughtfully designed, purpose-built centre that will make such a big difference to so many people in Coombs, in the ACT, and in parts of more- wider parts of Australia that will be able to benefit from what is the second of this type of service in Australia.
I might now hand over to Emma Davidson, the ACT Minister, to tell us some more about it and then we'll be open to questions.
EMMA DAVIDSON, ACT MINISTER: Thank you. Dhawura nguna, dhawura Ngunnawal. This is Ngunnawal country and I pay my respects to elders, past, present and future, and acknowledge that there are many people and families who have a deep connection to Canberra and the region.
It is really wonderful today to be here with David Smith and with our Commonwealth Minister Emma McBride for the opening of this beautiful new facility. People will be staying here for up to three months at a time, so it's really important that the place where they're staying where they're receiving their therapeutic care is a real home-like environment, where they can take what they learn while we're here and continue that journey when they go home. It's a place that will really welcome in families and carers for people who are receiving care here so that they can work together on how to continue that work when people go home. And it's a place where the local community is surrounding you, where you can really get a feel for, this is what it's going to be like when I go home. I will be able to do this, and recovery is going to be great.
So, every detail of what we've built here has been very carefully thought through. People with lived experience have been with us every step of the way. They've been involved in the design, not just of the physical space, but also of the model of care and how this is going to fit in with all of our other eating disorder services here in the ACT.