Crisafulli Government delivers new staff accommodation for Longreach and Winton health workers

• 15 new on-site staff accommodation units, totalling 25 new beds, are complete at Longreach Hospital and Winton Multipurpose Health Service.

• These modern new accommodation units will help attract and retain health workers in rural and remote Queensland.

• The Crisafulli Government stepped in with $350 million in new funding to ensure staff accommodation projects like these are delivered, after Labor’s regional health cuts left them unfunded.

• After Labor ignored the regions for a decade, the Crisafulli Government is restoring health services when Queenslanders need them most.

The Crisafulli Government is growing the health workforce in the Central West, with new on-staff accommodation units complete and set to open at Longreach Hospital and Winton Multipurpose Health Service to help attract and retain frontline health workers in rural and remote Queensland.

The project includes 10 single-occupancy units at Longreach and five threebedroom units at Winton, providing modern, fully self-contained accommodation for permanent and visiting clinicians.

The delivery of these new accommodation units is in addition to accommodation projects already delivered by the Crisafulli Government including in Biloela, Camooweal, Dajarra, Millmerran, Mount Isa, Tara with further accommodation works progressing right across the state.

The projects were originally funded under the Building Rural and Remote Health Program which the former Labor government ripped money out of to pay for other health commitments, leaving numerous rural and remote projects unfunded.

The Crisafulli Government’s 2025-26 Budget invested $350 million in new funding to save these projects and ensure critical staff accommodation in rural and remote Queensland could be delivered.

Member for Gregory Sean Dillon said the Crisafulli Government was committed to restoring health services in the regions.

“This new accommodation will strengthen healthcare delivery across the Central West, after Labor neglected health care in the regions for a decade,” Mr Dillon said.

“Access to housing is one of the biggest challenges facing regional and remote communities, and that includes attracting frontline health workers.

“These new accommodation units will provide modern, comfortable housing for the clinicians and staff who deliver vital care for Central West communities.

“After Labor ripped out funding from rural and remote health projects, the Crisafulli Government stepped in with $350 million in new funding to ensure projects like these could be delivered for across Queensland, including in Longreach and Winton.

“Staff in rural and remote Queensland do an incredible job in often challenging circumstances, and it’s important we provide the best possible conditions to support them.

Central West Hospital and Health Service Chief Executive Anthony West said the accommodation would support the health service’s evolving workforce needs.

“As a health service, we continually review our accommodation portfolio across all locations to ensure government-supplied accommodation matches the changing nature of our workforce,” Mr West said.

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