A community-controlled health service providing primary care to about 400 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients in Canberra is preparing to shut its doors this week after failing to secure ongoing funding, with local leaders warning the decision will deepen existing health gaps in the ACT.
The Yerrabi Yurwang Health Hub, which opened in February 2025, offers general practice and nursing on Canberra’s north side and is run by the Yerrabi Yurwang Child & Family Aboriginal Corporation. Patients say the service’s bulk-billing model and culturally safe setting have been critical in a city where out-of-pocket GP costs can be a barrier.
Rose, an Aboriginal woman living with chronic pain, said a bulk-billed doctor meant she could prioritise essentials. “It takes the burden off, so I can focus whatever little money I do have [on] putting food on the table for my family and a roof over my head as much as I can” she said.
Yerrabi chair Selina Walker said the looming closure was frightening for families managing complex conditions. “It scares me that this could lead to a death … I’m tired of burying my mob,” the Ngunnawal emerging Elder said. She described the failure to fund the service as “wholly and solely systemic racism”.
Chief executive Professor Dea Delaney-Thiele said the health hub’s operating budget has relied on grants and internal cross-subsidies. “To have a GP here, a locum, is $10,000 a week … the coffers are just about dry” she said. “No GP, no script … where are they going to get their meds from if the scripts run out?”
In briefings to the ACT government, the organisation sought $803,000 in temporary funding to cover four months of operations while it pursued longer-term Commonwealth funding. ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the request was considered but could not be met. “We don’t have any money that is specifically available for this purpose, and we would have to divert money from something else” she said.
The standoff has reignited debate about access to affordable primary care in the Territory. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has reported the ACT’s GP bulk-billing rate is the lowest of any jurisdiction, averaging 53 per cent in the first 10 months of 2024. Nationally, Grattan Institute analysis of government data found 81.4 per cent of GP services were bulk-billed between November 2025 and January 2026, after new incentives began – including the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program, which commenced on 1 November 2025.
Yerrabi’s board has urged patients to write to both territory and federal representatives, warning that losing the service risks leaving some families without timely, culturally safe care.
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