Victoria's Minister for Ageing Ingrid Stitt has announced the commencement of work on a new 30-bed aged care home at Mansfield District Hospital, 180km north east of Melbourne, replacing the ageing Buckland House.

The facility will be built alongside the existing 42-bed Bindaree Retirement Centre aged care home, which will also be refurbished and upgraded. 

The project is part of the State Government's $108.2 million Rural and Regional Public Sector Residential Aged Care Services Revitalisation Strategy Stage 1, which will expand and refurbish public sector aged care homes in Mansfield and Orbost, 375km east of Melbourne.

The new Mansfield aged care home will feature 30 single rooms with ensuite bathrooms, and has been designed in accordance with the ‘small household’ model.

It's expected to be completed in late 2027. 

“With shovels now in the ground, Mansfield locals can look forward to seeing this new multi-million-dollar public aged care facility start to take shape over coming months,” said the Minister.

“Ageing in place is critically important for older Victorians, especially those in regional areas like Mansfield and we’re delivering the care and facilities to support them to do this.” 

VIC: 9% of aged care homes are public

The project is part of the Victorian Government’s Rural and Regional Public Sector Residential Aged Care Services Revitalisation Strategy, which is progressively upgrading ageing public aged care homes at a cost of $698 million so far.

The Victorian public health system operates approximately 9% of residential aged care beds across the state, consisting of 174 facilities with approximately 5,500 beds. Nine of the 174 sites are multi-purpose services and approximately 80% of PSRACS are in rural and regional areas.

The Victorian Health Building Authority is delivering the Mansfield project in partnership with Mansfield District Hospital and builders A W Nicholson.