Health authorities have announced a free mental health support service will launch in Warwick later next year.
Federal assistant mental health minister Emma McBride visited Toowoomba, where she unveiled plans to open a walk-in Medicare mental health centre in Warwick.
The free service will be the third of its kind in the Darling Downs and West Moreton health districts and forms part of a national rollout of medicare mental health centres across Australia.
A statement to media from the federal health department said the centres “provide a safe and welcoming place for adults to access free mental health information, support and care from multidisciplinary teams over extended hours”.
Clients will not be required to make an appointment to use the service.
The Darling Downs health service are expected to commence codesign of the Warwick centre shortly for an official opening at some point in 2025.
Ms McBride said the service will offer “comprehensive wraparound care” for Darling Downs residents to access mental health care “closer to home”.
Darling Downs and West Moreton health chief executive Lucille Chalmers described mental health and suicide prevention as a “big concern” for the region.
“Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN is delighted with this injection of resources to our region,” Ms Chalmers said.
“Mental health and suicide prevention is a big concern for the Darling Downs, and we know that Warwick in particular, along with its surrounding areas, is in need of this additional investment,” she said.
“We know from experience with Kingaroy and Ipswich how valuable the process of designing the service with the community is.”
Queensland health minister Shannon Fentiman said access to free mental health support “will be life-changing for so many residents here in Warwick”.
