Burnie Medicare Mental Health Centre now open

People living in the Burnie area now have access to free walk-in mental health support in the form of a new Medicare Mental Health Centre. 

Friendly centre team members Andrea (left) and Allison

The Burnie Medicare Mental Health Centre has opened at an interim site at 52-56 Bass Highway in Cooee, alongside the Burnie GP Super Clinic. 

“This will be a temporary home for the centre, allowing services to start while we finalise arrangements for the permanent location,” Primary Health Tasmania General Manager Alison O’Neill said. 

The Australian Government is funding the establishment of Medicare Mental Health Centres across Australia through local Primary Health Networks (PHNs). Primary Health Tasmania is the Tasmanian PHN.  

“The centres provide a safe and welcoming place to access immediate mental health care and be connected to other services for ongoing care,” Mrs O’Neill said. 

“Centre staff can also help family and friends with information and advice. There is no charge, and appointments and referrals aren’t needed.”  

Primary Health Tasmania has commissioned Stride to establish and deliver services from Medicare Mental Health Centres in Launceston (open since 2021), Devonport (open since September 2025), Burnie (now open at an interim site), and outer Hobart. 

Stride team members are based at the interim Burnie centre to ensure the community has immediate access to support. 

The Burnie centre will be staffed by an experienced core team including a peer worker, an intake clinician, and a brief intervention clinician. They will be supported by a receptionist and a community engagement worker.

Some of these staff are already in place, with others being recruited. The Burnie team is supported by Stride’s broader Tasmanian workforce at Medicare Mental Health Centres in Devonport and Launceston.

“Our community engagement worker has been out in the region, connecting with local services and sharing what Stride can offer,” Stride General Manager – Integrated Services Terri Matanovic said.  

“The centre team will continue strengthening these local relationships so people know who they are, how they can help, and that they are there to walk alongside people who need support.”