Beloved Dandenong and District Aborigines Co-Operative 'falling apart'

It is an area servicing one of the fastest-growing Indigenous populations in the country.

But in Dandenong, in Melbourne’s south-east, a vital centre for Aboriginal health is falling apart.

“The facility is just crumbling,” said Jenny Ockwell, a Wurundjeri public health expert who runs the Dandenong and District Aborigines Co-Operative.

The co-op is one of the oldest Aboriginal-run health services in Australia and is beloved by elders and families who meet at the centre for community connection.

But despite pleas to state and federal agencies for capital funds, its buildings are in a state of disrepair. The roof is leaking, walls are cracking and the front door has been deemed too dangerous to use.

There is no adequate access for patients with a disability to enter some of the buildings so staff often have to physically lift wheelchairs through the door.

“I am constantly amazed by the staff here, that they can work in these facilities. It’s depressing at times to come in,” Ms Ockwell said.

“When it rains we often get water running down the walls. There was one time I had to send all the staff home because I couldn’t guarantee their safety with the electrical equipment. It’s dangerous.”

The mums and babies team has no room to expand, and specialists — physiotherapists and optometrists — work out of a storage room.

Aboriginal leaders in Victoria said they were urgently trying to get the state and federal governments to listen and to fund an acquisition of new land and a full rebuild.

Jill Gallagher, the CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, said the community was missing out on vital health programs.

“No-one — state or commonwealth governments — take responsibility for Aboriginal infrastructure,” she said.

“That’s the problem … and they’re suffering.”

In the Dandenong region, Aboriginal families are facing one of the highest rates of child removal in the country.

Ms Ockwell said she would like to be helping more families stay together, but there was limited space at the co-operative to deliver programs for prevention and intervention.

Elder Aunty Alice Begley said she was concerned there were fewer and fewer resources for Aboriginal elders because the service was so stretched.

“There’s nowhere for the elders to go for respite if they want to go into care … and I think [the lack of funding] is a bit appalling, really,” she said.

The centre’s GP Hung The Nguyen said doctors were fully booked weeks in advance because there was no space,” he said.

“That’s a real limitation. From what we can see from the community numbers, the population in the local area has continued to increase.”

Ms Ockwell said the organisation had received no new capital funds in almost 35 years.

The federal MP for Bruce, Julian Hill, told ABC News: “The current facility is without doubt the worst in Victoria.”

“The building is falling apart and should have been condemned and torn down years ago,” he said.

“State and commonwealth agencies point at each other.

“It falls between the cracks of multiple departments, and existing programs generally won’t fund land acquisition … breaking the deadlock will require political will.”

Mr Hill said he was working to convene an urgent meeting between state and federal ministers “to try to find a way forward”.

ABC News has contacted the Victorian Department of Health for comment.