Minister for Indigenous Australians
The Albanese Government is pleased to announce a provider has been selected to operate the new Darwin Medicare Urgent Care Clinic (UCC) following a competitive tender process led by the Northern Territory Government (NT Health).
FCD Health Limited, the current operators of the Palmerston GP Super Clinic, has been identified as the successful provider to operate the new Darwin Medicare Urgent Care Clinic which will be located at 8 Osgood Drive, Eaton.
The clinic will be open seven days a week operating extended hours. The new clinic will be fully bulk billed and will begin delivering urgent care for the community over coming months.
The clinic will help to ease pressure on the Royal Darwin Hospital, where around 43 per cent of presentations in 2024-25 were for semi-urgent or non-urgent conditions.
The Darwin Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will join the existing network of 8 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics across the Northern Territory including in Lajamanu, Galiwin'ku and Alice Springs.
Over 126 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics are in operation across Australia, which have already seen more than 2.5 million presentations since the first sites opened in June 2023. This includes over 109,900 presentations to the existing Northern Territory Medicare Urgent Care Clinics.
Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
"The Albanese Government is getting on with the job of delivering more Medicare Urgent Care Clinics for people in the Northern Territory.
"The new clinic in Darwin will be open seven days a week, extended hours and most importantly they'll be fully bulk billed.
"This clinic will take pressure off the local hospitals, including the Royal Darwin Hospital, and will fill an important gap in services across extended hours and over the weekend."
Quotes attributable to Minister McCarthy:
"We promised a Medicare Urgent Care Clinic for Darwin at the last election and today the Albanese Government is one step closer to delivering on that promise with this announcement of a successful provider.
"Building on the success of the Palmerston clinic, the new Eaton address will mean more people are living closer to the healthcare they need, when they need it.
"With over 109,000 visits that could otherwise have ended up in an emergency department, Urgent Care Clinics are delivering healthcare for Territorians and taking pressure off our hospitals."
Quotes attributable to Special Envoy Gosling OAM MP:
"The Palmerston Medicare Urgent Care Clinic has already helped tens of thousands of Territorians get free care close to home and now Darwin families will have that same option.
"If you've got a suspected broken bone, a sprain, a minor burn, an infection or a nasty rash, that's exactly what it's there for.
"It's free, walk-in, fully bulk-billed care and open seven days a week, taking pressure off Royal Darwin Hospital and giving families another trusted option when they need it fast."
