Tas Govt pays $33M for 94-bed aged care home
The state government will turn the aged care home into a new Older Persons Mental Health Facility with existing buildings remodelled and upgraded.
Tasmania’s largest Not For Profit aged care provider, Southern Cross Care, today announced it had sold its Rosary Gardens aged care home to the state government.
Deputy Premier Guy Barnett announced an agreement to buy the 94-bed aged care home on 3.9 hectares of land in New Town, 4km north of Hobart’s CBD.
The government will turn it into a new mental health facility for older Tasmanians with existing buildings at Rosary Gardens remodelled and upgraded.
Southern Cross Care (Tasmania) announced in November it would close the facility and sell the land, citing a growing preference among older Tasmanians to receive care at home rather than in residential facilities.
Board chair Sonia Byers said the $33 million proceeds will be reinvested into Southern Cross Care’s services.
Settlement is scheduled for 30 September 2026. Rosary Gardens will remain open and operational until 30 June 2026.
The new Older Persons Mental Health Facility will replace the Roy Fagan Centre, which the Deputy Premier described as “simply not fit for purpose”. The current lease for that centre expires in 2029.
In October 2025, there were 77 patients stranded in Tasmanian hospitals unable to access residential aged care.
