Western Australia’s first 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Centre opens as part of record health infrastructure investment.
The WA government has completed an $88.1 million expansion of Fremantle Hospital, delivering 40 new mental health beds and a suite of specialist services that significantly boost access to care for people across Perth’s southern suburbs.
The development marks a major step forward in Western Australia’s mental health system, introducing inpatient capacity, specialist older adult services, neurostimulation therapy, and (in a first for the state) a dedicated 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Centre.
The new facility includes a neurobehavioural unit for older adults, 10 open beds, and a 20-bed secure mental health ward. Together, these additions contribute 40 beds to the service, expanding the hospital’s ability to meet growing demand for specialist mental health care.
Health and Mental Health Minister Meredith Hammat said the development represented a new standard of care for Western Australians.
“This calming, purpose-built facility at Fremantle Hospital doesn’t just significantly boost capacity for emergency mental health care, it’s improving how we care for Western Australians in their time of need,” she said.
Central to the expansion is WA’s first 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Centre, which provides a dedicated entry point for people experiencing mental health distress.
The centre offers timely assessment, intervention, and support in a purpose-built environment, serving as an alternative to emergency departments, a setting often ill-suited to people in acute psychological distress.
“Fremantle Hospital is now home to WA’s first 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Centre, providing a new, dedicated hospital entrance for patients in distress, so patients and carers don’t need to present to an emergency department,” Minister Hammat said.
The Crisis Centre will also support new referral pathways from ambulance services, police, and hospital emergency departments, helping reduce pressure on emergency departments across the region.
A new neurostimulation service rounds out the clinical offering, providing access to treatments including electroconvulsive therapy and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in a controlled clinical environment.
These treatments, previously less accessible to patients in the area, will now be available in a purpose-built, safe setting.
The facilities are being introduced through a staged opening, with some services commencing from July and wards progressively opening from August.
The Fremantle Hospital expansion forms part of the state government’s record $5.5 billion investment in health infrastructure across Western Australia.
It also marks a significant milestone in the government’s hospital bed delivery program, with more than 1,000 beds now delivered since 2021.
The new services are designed to improve access to care, support earlier intervention, and strengthen connections across hospital, crisis, and community-based mental health services.
