Illawarra, Australia launches $298 m senior housing project and receives $25.9 m federal funding for aged‑care beds

A joint venture between the University of Wollongong and retirement‑living provider Keyton has submitted a $298 million development plan for the Innovation Campus in Illawarra. The project will create a health and wellbeing precinct with about 500 senior places, including a 180‑bed residential care facility, two nine‑storey independent‑living towers with 249 apartments, a 60‑place childcare centre, a wellness centre and research spaces. The plan, now on public exhibition, seeks state approval for multiple construction stages and aims to ease bed‑block pressures in local hospitals.

Separately, the federal government’s Aged Care Capital Assistance Program has allocated $25.9 million to add 73 aged‑care beds across six Illawarra sites – Albion Park, Unanderra, Figtree, Woonona and Tarrawanna. Health, Disability and Ageing Minister Mark Butler and Aged Care and Seniors Minister Sam Rae said the funding targets “hot‑spot” regions where bed supply has lagged, with the projects expected to be delivered within 24 months to meet growing demand, including for complex care needs such as dementia.