Australia's first publicly-funded residential eating disorder treatment centre to open in Canberra

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Australia's first publicly-funded specialist residential eating disorder treatment centre is set to open its doors in Canberra, welcomed by the families of patients.

Transcript

00:00For people with an eating disorder, this specialist centre could soon be their home away from

00:07home.

00:08For David Quilty, whose young adult daughter has an eating disorder, the centre may form

00:13part of his caring journey in the future.

00:16One of the terrible things with eating disorders is it isolates sufferers.

00:20It's involving families and carers makes a huge difference.

00:24The sub-acute centre will care for those with anorexia bulimia and binge eating disorder

00:29who need more care than can be provided at home but don't need hospitalisation or intensive

00:34support like a feeding tube.

00:36It will be staffed by GPs, nurses, dietitians, exercise physio, a social worker and psychologists

00:43and psychiatrists as required.

00:46And will provide many different types of therapy including art, yoga and gardening.

00:51We can provide for people of all genders and all body shapes and sizes and it's a very

00:57inclusive space.

00:58It's sort of creating a whole new relationship with food and wellbeing and kind of that more

01:03holistic approach to recovery.

01:05At a cost of $13.5 million, the federally funded Residential Eating Disorder Centre

01:11has been a long time coming.

01:13Funding was first allocated in the federal budget for this centre and several others

01:17like it around the country in 2019.

01:20A non-hospital like environment has been promised in the centre that can care for up to 12 patients

01:25at any one time.

01:27With the first of those expected to arrive for initial appointments from next week.

01:31But it won't care for people aged under 16 despite parents of children with eating disorders

01:36telling the ABC there is a real need for this in the community.

01:39The kind of care that you provide to someone over 16 versus someone under 16 is quite different.

01:45For now, those patients will need to look elsewhere for support.

01:48The centre's first residents will arrive early next month.

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