The Federal Government has opened an Expression of Interest (EOI) campaign to design, build and operate a 120-bed aged care home in Darwin, adjacent to Palmerston Regional Hospital, about 25km east of the city centre.
The NT Government first promised a new facility in June 2024, committing $12 million and seeking Federal backing. Nine months later, during the election campaign, then Aged Care Minister Anika Wells pledged $60 million via the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program.
While the preferred site is next to Palmerston Regional Hospital (pictured), the EOI notes alternative locations will be considered.
The Commonwealth’s procurement sets a practical time limit on delivery. If the project is completed within three years, the end-to-end process will have taken close to five years – quicker than the oft-quoted 6-7 years to build a home, but still lengthy given the NT’s bed shortage.
Pressure on capacity is acute. On any given day in the NT, up to 80 older patients occupy hospital beds while waiting for residential aged care placements.
Occupancy sits at 92.2% – the highest in the country — and NT Health told The Weekly SOURCE the Territory records the longest hospital stays for patients awaiting aged care placement.
The Northern Territory's rate of residential aged care use is half the rate of the national average - see chart above.
EOIs are to be made through the latest round of the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program, and close 27 November 2025. Information is available here.
