A major aged care expansion in North Adelaide has become the first project to be supported as 'essential infrastructure' under South Australia's framework for development assessment, marking a significant step in accelerating the delivery of much-needed aged care capacity.
The Department for Health and Wellbeing (DHW) has endorsed the classification of Helping Hand Aged Care as essential infrastructure for a proposed expansion at its existing North Adelaide facility, under new provisions introduced through the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016.
Subject to approval as Crown development by the Minister for Planning, the project involves the staged delivery of more than 160 additional aged care beds, with completion of the first stage by the end of 2029.
Changes introduced by the Malinauskas Labor Government in 2025 enabled the formal classification of aged care facilities as essential infrastructure, recognising their critical role in supporting the community and alleviating pressure on the health system through increased bed capacity.
Projects deemed essential infrastructure and sponsored by DHW are assessed via the Crown Development pathway, with final approval granted by the Minister for Planning.
This pathway provides a more streamlined process while maintaining rigorous planning assessment standards, ensuring the need for additional aged care capacity is given appropriate weight in decision making.
There are currently more than 350 older South Australians stuck in metro hospitals and other SA Health sites, ready for discharge but waiting for a Federal Government aged care bed.
Helping Hand will now proceed to submit a formal planning application to the Minister for Planning.
As put by Blair Boyer
Our reforms are already making a difference – fast-tracking projects like this that will deliver the aged care beds our community needs.
By recognising aged care as essential infrastructure, we're ensuring more South Australians can access the right care in the right setting.
This project is exactly the kind of investment these reforms were designed to support.
Aged care is essential infrastructure, and we need more of it.
This streamlined process will support projects to get off the ground more quickly.
Helping Hand's project aims to deliver more than 160 additional aged care beds – a significant increase – and has rightly been assigned as essential infrastructure.
As put by Chris Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Helping Hand Aged Care
We welcome the leadership shown by the South Australian Government in recognising aged care as essential infrastructure.
As the only residential aged care provider in the City of Adelaide, we are proud to deliver a project that will ease pressure on our hospitals, as some of our most vulnerable community members transition into the care environments they deserve.
At its heart, our proposal is about ensuring older South Australians can access care and support and remain within their community.
We look forward to engaging with our local stakeholders as we work through the planning process and bring this project to life, for the benefit of older South Australians and their families to access much needed aged care accommodation.
As put by Daniel Gannon, Executive Director of the Retirement Living Council
This is exactly the kind of project these reforms were meant to unlock.
We argued for retirement living and aged care to be recognised as essential infrastructure because the previous system was too slow for the scale of demand we face for age-friendly homes.
When the right projects move faster, older South Australians benefit and pressure on hospitals can start to ease.
This is an important early signal that the pathway is working as intended, and that it can support more investment in the retirement living and aged care projects South Australia needs.
