The troubled community health hub just can’t stay out of the headlines. This time it was a Victorian estimates hearing that broke the news.
The Victorian government has confirmed the Collingwood sobering-up centre run by troubled community health hub Cohealth will stop operating as an overnight service from mid-2027.
Mental health minister Ingrid Stitt broke the news after sustained questioning from opposition MPs during a Victorian budget estimates hearing yesterday.
“Collingwood will not be providing an overnight sobering centre operation beyond mid-2027,” Ms Stitt said.
Mid-2027 is also when the latest round of government bailout funding – $1.5 million, matched by Cohealth – will run out.
The minister said detailed transition planning would occur over the next year with Aboriginal community-controlled organisations and Cohealth.
“We’ll be working closely with the service providers … together with the service provider for this service, which is Cohealth, to work on what the other referral pathways are,” Ms Stitt told the hearing.
The comments came as opposition MPs pressed the government on how much had been spent establishing sobering-up centres and how many people had used them.
Asked how many people had stayed overnight at the Collingwood service, the minister said there had been “3000 stays over the period that the sobering services have been in place”.
A spokesperson for Cohealth told The Medical Republic’s sister publication HSD that the organisation welcomed the Victorian government’s investment in public intoxication health services and was “proud to be one of a number of trusted providers continuing to deliver this lifesaving service for communities”.
“Over the next year, Cohealth is working with government, Aboriginal leadership, staff, and service users to strengthen public intoxication health services, including transitioning sobering services for the general population from the centralised Collingwood site to more local options connected to health services by mid-2027.
“Cohealth remains committed to delivering trauma-informed, human rights-based and health-led responses for people who use alcohol and other drugs.
“We believe everyone deserves access to compassionate, non-judgmental healthcare and social support.”
Meanwhile, Cohealth continued to stonewall any release of the summary of the Duckett review into its management.
The terms of reference of the review made it clear that a summary of the review could only be released with consent of all parties – Cohealth, the Victorian government and the federal department.
The RACGP yesterday called on the Victorian government to release the Cohealth review.
“Patients, clinicians and communities deserve transparency,” said Dr Anita Munoz, the College’s Victorian chair.
“It has been more than 179 days, and we still haven’t seen the final report. The government must release it without further delay.
“The RACGP has heard from Victorian government, federal government, and Cohealth spokespeople that they are all willing to accept the report’s findings, that they all have no issue with the release of the report, and that the hold-up lies with someone else.
“If there is universal agreement that the report belongs to the public, there should be no hold up in releasing its contents.”
HSD today again asked Cohealth when it would allow the summary of the report to be publicly released.
We had received no response by our publication deadline.
Meanwhile, opposition MPs raised concerns about what would happen to people who currently rely on overnight sobering services once the Collingwood model winds down.
One MP described the loss of overnight capacity as “a disaster waiting to happen”.
The minister said overnight stays had always been intended as “the last resort” within the public intoxication model, with the primary aim being to help intoxicated people return home safely or reconnect with family and support networks.
Ms Stitt told the estimates hearing that the broader public intoxication response would continue, including outreach teams and referral services.
“We will still have the Ngwala overnight sobering centre available in St Kilda,” she said.
The minister also revealed outreach teams linked to the broader public intoxication response had delivered “more than 110,000 instances of support”.
Government MPs repeatedly framed the reform as part of Victoria’s shift away from criminalising public intoxication, particularly for Aboriginal Victorians.
The minister said the reforms followed “the disproportionate impact” public intoxication laws had on Aboriginal communities and referred to “very awful and tragic outcomes” examined through coronial inquiries and royal commissions.
The government said regional “places of safety” were now operating in Ballarat, Bendigo, East Gippsland, Geelong, Latrobe, Mildura, Shepparton and Swan Hill.
