The impending closure of the Hobart Clinic, southern Tasmania’s sole private inpatient mental health facility, has triggered a significant public and political backlash, with unions, politicians and community members demanding urgent government intervention. The clinic’s scheduled closure at the end of October 2025 will eliminate 27 to 28 desperately needed mental health beds and key services, like inpatient Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), from an already stressed system.
The core issue is a clash over responsibility and the capacity of the public system to absorb the patient load, particularly those with lower-acuity needs who require specialised or longer-term care but wouldn’t qualify for acute crisis services at the Hobart Hospital. Health Minister, Bridget Archer, is deflecting blame toward the Australian Government, citing the failing viability of private health care as a national issue, while the unions and Opposition accuse the Tasmanian Government of refusing to act to save an essential service.
Media release – Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmanian Branch. 2 October 2025
ANMF MEMBER RALLY TO SAVE HOBART CLINIC
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmanian Branch today joined members of the Health and Community Services Union and Community in rallying to save the Hobart Clinic, which recently announced its closure after well over 30 years of service to the community in supporting those with mental health conditions.
ANMF Tasmanian Branch Secretary Emily Shepherd said the impending closure will mean a loss of 28 inpatient mental health beds from the State which will result in catastrophic consequences for access to inpatient mental health services.
“The Tasmanian Government has moved reassure the community that patients who would have sought support at the Hobart Clinic will be able to do so through Peacock House or the Royal Hobart Hospital, it is clear this is not a feasible alternative,” Shepherd said.
“We know that the Tasmanian Health Service (THS) has relied on the Hobart Clinic’s in-patient beds when the THS have not had capacity.
“To suggest the THS can somehow now absorb the needs of an additional 28 in-patents with no additional bed stock than was already in use along with the Hobart Clinic, is disingenuous at best.”
Shepherd said the patient cohort that has accessed the Hobart Clinic services is unlikely to even meet the high acuity criteria required for an admission into the Royal Hobart Hospital, nor are they likely to have been accessing services through the Statewide Mental Health Service which is required to be admitted to Peacock House.
“The patients most at risk are likely to be those with moderate mental health concerns that possibly might required a longer in-patient admission but are not acutely unwell enough to warrant admission the RHH.
“Some patients have had regular admissions into the Hobart Clinic over many years as required to seek support in managing illness such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, for example.
“Tasmania cannot cope with the loss of 28 in-patient mental health beds and these in-patient beds must be retained.”
Shepherd said the ANMF is calling on the State Government to intervene to keep the in-patient beds open and to seek the support of the Federal Government, if required, to ensure that these critical services are not lost on 31 October this year.
“The ANMF will continue to advocate for the Hobart Clinic to remain open.
“We will continue to provide support to members who work at the Hobart Clinic and who are deeply distressed by the prosect of losing such a vital service to the many patients whom they have provided treatment and care to over many years.”
Media release – Health & Community Services Union, 2 October 2025
Tasmanians rally over the Hobart Clinic closure and urge the government to step up before it’s too late
HACSU members, former patients, community members and politicians rallied outside the Executive Building in Hobart today, demanding urgent intervention from the state government to prevent the closure of the Hobart Clinic.
The Clinic, southern Tasmania’s last private inpatient mental health facility, is set to shut its doors at the end of October. This will strip away a critical lifeline for Tasmanians and remove 27 desperately needed beds from an already overstretched mental health system.
Health Minister Bridget Archer has suggested the public system can absorb the services provided, but workers and patients know this is simply not true.
“The Hobart Clinic is the only service in the state offering vital treatments such as inpatient TMS [Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation].
If it closes, patients will need to deteriorate to crisis point before being admitted through emergency. Wait times will blow out, public services will be pushed beyond breaking point and lives will be put at risk,” HACSU State Secretary Robbie Moore said.
The Hobart Clinic provides specialised care for people with lower-acuity mental health needs – people who would never qualify for crisis-based hospital services. Without the Clinic, many Tasmanians will face the impossible choice of going without care or attempting to travel interstate for treatment, an option most cannot afford.
The impact of the impending closure has been devastating not only for patients but also for staff.
“These workers are specialised, some of the best mental health professionals in the country and we’re likely to lose a number of them to interstate because they want to keep doing the same work they’re doing now,” Moore said.
“Everyone is devastated and despite the fact that they’re obviously very worried about their own situation, they’re more worried about the patients who will have nowhere else to go.
“This facility is not optional, it’s essential. If the government fails to act, lives will be lost and Tasmania’s already fragile mental health system will crumble.”
Community concern about the Clinic’s closure has been overwhelming. In just three days, over 1,500 Tasmanians have signed a petition calling on the government to keep the Hobart Clinic open.
Speakers and attendees at today’s rally are demanding immediate government support to secure the future of the Hobart Clinic. Lives, as well as the future of mental health care in Tasmania depend on it.
Media release – Sarah Lovell MLC, Shadow Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing & Ageing, 2 October 2025
Liberals can act to save Hobart Clinic – they just won’t
The closure of the Hobart Clinic’s Rokeby site is another devastating blow to mental health services in Tasmania and the Health Minister’s refusal to act shows exactly why Tasmanians can’t trust the Liberals with health.
Bridget Archer is trying to wash her hands of responsibility instead of standing up for Tasmanians who desperately need care.
The biggest problem here is the lack of publicly available mental health care – which is a state responsibility. The Liberals have the power to intervene and keep the Hobart Clinic open until a long-term solution is found, they just won’t.
The Liberals want Tasmanians to believe the public system can absorb patients from the Hobart Clinic, but Tasmanians know that simply isn’t true.
Right now, people are already waiting days in emergency departments for mental health support.
The cost of the State Government not intervening will be higher in the long run, because patients will end up in less appropriate, higher-cost settings like emergency departments.
We need to make sure mental health patients are getting care in the right setting, not in acute settings where it’s more expensive and less effective.
The Minister’s job is to fix these problems – not to point the finger and walk away.
Has she even visited the Hobart Clinic since taking the job? She should face up to the patients and staff to explain why she won’t act.
You can’t trust the Liberals with health. After 11 years in power, Tasmanians are waiting longer and suffering more.
Media release – Bridget Archer MHA, Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2 October 2025
National approach to private healthcare urgently needed
Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Bridget Archer, has called for a national approach to urgently address the failing viability of privately-run mental health facilities across the country.
The Minister has written to the Federal Minister for Health and Ageing requesting an urgent meeting to discuss potential immediate and longer term solutions, including increasing the Medicare rebate for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and a national plan to address the psychiatrist workforce shortage.
Minister Archer said if Labor are genuine in wanting to support private health facilities like the Hobart Clinic, they need to join us and call on their federal colleagues to act.
“The closure of the Hobart Clinic’s inpatient facility is disappointing and another sad example of the failing viability of privately-run health facilities across the country, which is the responsibility of the Federal Government,” Archer said.
“Other states and territories are facing the same challenges, particularly when it comes to mental health services and it is very clear this is an ongoing national issue.
“The Hobart Clinic has acknowledged that even with renewed State intervention, their business model was not sustainable – and every dollar spent on a private provider is one less dollar we can spend in the public system where it’s most needed, to support patients with higher-acuity needs.
“It is politically easy to always call on the State to fix everything – but all this does is allow the Federal Government to continue to neglect their responsibilities, which we are already seeing with bed block, aged care and NDIS placements and access to primary care.
“The Federal Government controls the levers that affect private hospital sustainability, primarily private insurance premiums and they are the only ones who can fix it, which has also been noted recently by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.
“Urgent action is needed so people can receive care in their communities before reaching crisis point and presenting to emergency departments – settings ill-suited for those in mental distress.”
The Minister called on the State Opposition, relevant unions and also Tasmanian Federal Members of Parliament, to join the Tasmanian Government in standing up for Tasmania.
“I would also note that former Tasmanian Labor leader, Rebecca White, is now the Federal Assistant Minister for Health, meaning she has the ear of the Health Minister who can fix these issues – has Mr Willie even once bothered to pick up the phone and advocate for Tasmania to Ms White?”
Media release – Cecily Rosol MHA, Greens Mental Health Spokesperson, 2 October 2025
Liberals Must Increase Mental Health Care
The Greens share the concerns of HACSU and members of the community on the closure of the Hobart Clinic. We call on the Liberal Government to step up and provide the mental health support the community needs.
The Liberals have underfunded mental health services for years. Public mental health services can’t keep up with current levels of need.
Tasmanians are missing out on the mental healthcare they desperately need. The Greens are constantly contacted by people who cannot access mental healthcare. The Liberal Government are letting Tasmanians down.
The mental health system is in crisis and it’s only going to be made worse by the closure of the Hobart Clinic. The public system doesn’t have enough capacity to help those currently in need, let alone cope with the increased demand the closure of another private facility will create.
It’s not good enough for the state Liberal Government to try and pass the buck to the Federal Government. The Liberals must ensure there are comprehensive, coordinated mental health services across the state.
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