The Northern Queensland Primary Health Network officially launched the Request for Tender on 9 October 2025 for the establishment of the Mackay Medicare Mental Health Centre, marking a major milestone in improving access to mental health care across the wider Mackay region.
To meet growing demand for mental health support, the Mackay Medicare Mental Health Centre will offer free, walk-in support through a culturally safe, holistic, and multi-disciplinary team approach.
The centre will provide early intervention, evidence-based care, and immediate, in-house assessment and support for people experiencing emotional distress or mental health challenges.
An online market briefing session will be available at 9am-10.30am on Thursday 23 October, to support interested applicants through the tender process by providing information on the service model, and the tender process.
Any providers in the mental health and social services sectors that may be interested in applying to be part of delivering the future service are encouraged to register through the e-tender portal on the NQPHN website. A link to register for the market briefing is also available through the e-tender portal.
From March-July 2025, NQPHN led a consultation and codesign process for the delivery and design of the centre, engaging over 350 stakeholders and service providers, including providers in mental health, housing and homelessness, drug and alcohol sectors, people with lived experience, carers, community members, government agency staff, and emergency relief agencies.
Through the five-month process, important insights were gained about the current experiences of accessing services and support in the region, and what is important for the future service model including service location, the ideal experience of arriving at the service, and the optimal consumer journey.
Codesign and consultation feedback
Upon reviewing the feedback, consistent themes emerged for the development of a local vision for the centre.
The community wants a centre that:
- Creates a sense of belonging, hope and connection
- Is focussed on resilience building and early intervention in someone’s experience of distress
- Provides a safe place for the people needing support and for the staff providing it
- Is embedded in the community, delivering supports or activities that bring people in for something else, to build trust and pave the way for reaching out
- Drives relationship-based partnerships backed up by good processes to achieve a system of allies
- Avoids the need for people to be vulnerable over and over again
- Is inclusive and culturally sensitive
NQPHN along with our partner in this work, Mackay Hospital and Health Service acknowledges and thanks each and every person who has contributed to the design of the service through these conversations.
We know that sharing experiences can be difficult, and we have been honoured to hear the hard stories, and to listen to how those experiences have been translated into important ideas to inform the way the new service needs to work for the Mackay community.
There is so much passion and excitement in the Mackay community for this new service.
Tender applications close Monday 10 November at 10am.
Interested applicants can find out more about the Mackay Medicare Mental Health Centre and the tender process here.
Key findings for the Mackay HHS region include:
- Mental health-related emergency department (MHED) presentations increased by 12.4% between 2018-19 and 2023-24
- Between 2024-25 and 2029-30, National Mental Health Service Planning Framework (NMHSPF) demand for severe mental illness is projected to grow by 7.4%
- There is also expected to be a 7.1% growth in demand from those residents who require services for mild and moderate mental health issues
- 45 per cent of residents drink in ways that increase the risk of alcohol-related disease or injury, and 17 per cent smoke daily.