Financial close achieved, work underway on $82m La Trobe University Health Clinic

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Plenary has achieved financial close and work is underway on the largest interdisciplinary university clinic in Victoria, the $82 million La Trobe University Health Clinic.

It follows Plenary being announced in 2022 as La Trobe University’s preferred master development partner to transform the 235-hectare Bundoora campus into a vibrant city that will include world-class sports, research and innovation, education, commercial, retail and residential developments.

When complete in mid-2026, the Health Clinic will train an additional 400 allied health professionals and psychologists each year, providing students with clinical placements and valuable hands-on experience, ensuring they are confident and skilled to enter the health workforce.

Operating as a state-of-the-art healthcare facility serving the public, the clinic will also offer a broad range of allied health services, including orthoptics, speech pathology, podiatry, psychology, dietetics and nutrition, physiotherapy, audiology and occupational therapy.

La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor Professor Theo Farrell said the University’s strategic investment in health research and teaching positions La Trobe as a dynamic centre for innovation and collaboration.

“La Trobe is making a significant investment in health teaching, research and infrastructure across key areas of need in both metropolitan and regional areas, helping address Australia’s serious health workforce crisis,” Professor Farrell said.

“The new infrastructure in which we are investing, including our exciting new clinical teaching building in Bundoora, will offer huge community benefits, including regional development and jobs from capital investments. Our vision is helping to solve a national policy issue plaguing governments and policymakers.”

Pro Vice-Chancellor of Health Innovation and Dean of the School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport Professor Russ Hoye said the new facility would streamline the journey from student to qualified health practitioner. 

“Our new state-of-the-art facilities will give our health students the very best environment to learn and succeed, which in turn will benefit the local workforce, leading to more and better healthcare professionals for communities across Australia,” Prof Hoye said.

The clinic is part of La Trobe’s $170 million investment in health innovation, which will deliver teaching, research and infrastructure to boost Australia’s healthcare workforce by an extra 4,000 professionals each year in areas of need.  

Allied health is Australia’s second-largest clinical workforce after nursing and midwifery. It includes professions such as physiotherapy, psychology, pharmacy, occupational therapy and social work.

There are around 300,000 registered allied health professionals in Australia but the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care says there is already a shortage in some allied health areas and demand is expected to grow over the next decade.

Plenary Group Managing Director Damien Augustinus said Plenary is excited to have commenced the first project under the master development partnership.

“We’re proud to be partnering with La Trobe to deliver such an important project that delivers on the university’s vision to be a centre for innovation and collaboration,” Mr Augustinus said.

“Our experience in forming long-term partnerships that deliver complex projects for government and universities, combined with the depth of experience that we have built in the health and life sciences space, make us ideally placed to deliver on La Trobe’s vision for the clinic; improving the healthcare sector and fostering an environment in which healthcare professions can develop and flourish.”