Mater aims to continue delivering world-class healthcare, education and research services to the people of Queensland into the future from its South Brisbane campus.
Our infrastructure and services have evolved and transformed over the past century in line with community needs and expectations.
We must continue to grow and improve to address the needs of Queenslanders into the future.
Mater’s vision is to enhance Mater Hill as a contemporary and integrated health, education, research and wellbeing precinct.
The proposed Plan of Development celebrates Mater’s proud heritage and builds on our continued drive for clinical excellence. It considers future-focused models of care, innovative smart technologies and responsive and sustainable infrastructure and spaces that promote collaboration, connectivity and community.
A Ministerial Infrastructure Designation (MID) is a statutory town planning instrument administered by the Queensland Government, under the Planning Act 2016. The Government introduced the MID process in 2016 to support the delivery of essential infrastructure such as hospitals and health care services, aged care facilities, schools and universities. This infrastructure is vital to support Queensland's growth, public services, jobs and economy.
An MID is an effective long-term planning process used for the delivery of large-scale social infrastructure, such as hospitals and universities.
Since Mater built its first hospital at South Brisbane more than 100 years ago, development within the campus has been ad hoc, responding to healthcare needs as required.
Currently, Mater Hill operates as a mix of both public and private hospitals, with allied health services, administrative spaces and research and educational spaces.
A MID would enable Mater to plan and invest for the future with certainty while providing the agility required to deliver services that meet new and emerging community needs in the coming decades.
The POD provides a roadmap for the future site. It enables flexibility while also imposing strict development parametres.
The POD controls landscaping, sustainability, heritage interfaces, building height, setbacks and verge widths.
The POD complies with the relevant assessment benchmarks, including Brisbane City Plan 2014.
In response to the State Government’s assessment requirements, consultants have worked diligently to undertake modelling and reporting for the application, which included lodging technical studies for traffic, civil engineering, acoustic engineering, and heritage assessments.
The MID is currently in the second phase of stakeholder engagement to give the community the opportunity to provide feedback. This feedback will be considered by the State Government in its decision-making process.
The preliminary stakeholder engagement phase concluded on Monday 13 September 2021 and the project team carefully considered the preliminary feedback and incorporated it into the MID proposal and accompanying Plan of Development.
Mater lodged the MID proposal in July 2022 and received approval from the State Government to commence a second community consultation phase in November and December 2023.
It is anticipated the Minister will make a final decision on the MID in early 2024.
If approved, Mater will commence upgrades and new works within six years (or 12 years where extended).
In late 2022, the State Government paused its assessment of the MID application following announcements surrounding the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and plans for Brisbane’s inner south.
The State Government then formally announced its intention to potentially expand the Woolloongabba Priority Development Area (‘PDA’) to include large parts of Stanley Street and the Mater Hill area.
The Woolloongabba PDA was subsequently declared on 22 September 2023 and the Woolloongabba PDA Interim Land Use Plan enacted.
The MID process was able to recommence after this point and proceed to public notification. The preliminary stakeholder engagement phase concluded on Monday 13 September 2021.
Detailed clinical services and operational planning is currently underway to assist Mater, in collaboration with the State Government, to determine the facilities that need to be located on the site.
This planning takes into account projected population growth, public health data, changing community healthcare trends, technology and innovative clinical service delivery options.
Currently, Mater Hill operates public and private hospitals, medical and specialist suites and a range of allied health and ancillary services.
Building on its world-leading capabilities, Mater aims to ensure patient facilities at South Brisbane continue to deliver state-of-the-art treatments and care.
Key planning considerations that are relevant to the Mater MID, including traffic and access, heritage protection, residential interface and sustainability; are addressed in detail in the relevant MID application material, which can be found on the State Government’s website if you require further information.
The MID entails only Mater-owned land south of the busway and bounded by Stanley Street and Annerley Road.
No other assets are currently being considered.
Mater has completed preliminary stakeholder engagement and has provided further opportunities for the community to shape the services and infrastructure at Mater Hill through the second engagement phase in November and December 2023.
Feedback from residents and stakeholders from last year’s engagement has been incorporated into Mater’s MID proposal and Plan of Development.
The MID would provide several benefits to the local community, including:
- A long-term plan for campus management.
- Contemporary healthcare facilities that respond to advances in medical treatments.
- An opportunity for medical and research-based facilities to be co-located in one precinct.
- The option for people with high-care health needs to be co-located with services.
- The potential to reduce wait times for patients, due to enhanced infrastructure.
- Contemporary infrastructure to drive increased employment opportunities for doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, medical support workers, administration staff and contractors.
- The opportunity to create a pedestrian-friendly environment with streetscaping surrounding the site.
While Mater began reviewing the South Brisbane site’s capability to meet future healthcare needs in 2019, plans for Brisbane to host the Olympic Games in 2032 have highlighted the need for infrastructure upgrades in the Mater Hill area.
This includes updating and expanding existing social and healthcare infrastructure, as well as road networks, transport hubs and more.
Mater is working with the State Government to any impacts of key Olympic infrastructure in and around South Brisbane are incorporated into its MID planning.
Mater will continue to provide updates on the MID process at https://www.mater.org.au/materhill.
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