‘Total and just systemic racism’: Outrage over Indigenous health center closure

Rose is a native woman who lives with a chronic pain condition that prevents her from working.

She says that a doctor is needed to ensure her family’s access to health services.

“It takes the burden off, so I can focus on whatever little money I have [on] Food on the table for my family and a roof over my head as much as I can,” she said.

Rose is a patient at Yerby Yurwang Health Centre, which provides culturally appropriate general practice and nursing to around 400 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients in Canberra.

“I remember having my first one [appointment] with Yarby [the doctor] Spent an hour with me, she was really interested in what was going on [on] … A really good piece of advice that really set me up,” she said.

But, due to a lack of funding, the health center was closed, and native leaders in Yerby are concerned that it could put the health of patients at risk.

Ms Walker said negotiations with the ACT government had not been “very supportive” and that the failure to provide funding to Yerby had disproportionately affected the First Nations community.

“This is purely and simply systemic racism,” she said.

The organization wrote to patients last week to inform them of Tuesday’s closure.

“It is deeply regrettable that governments cannot accommodate Yerbi at this time, given the appalling data and health gaps that exist for Aboriginal people in the ACT,” Yerabi wrote.

‘Culturally Appropriate Health Care’

Most of Yarrabi’s patients are seniors or children under the age of four who are being treated for complex medical conditions.

“Some of the people we see coming through the doors haven’t seen a GP for five years,” Ms Walker said.

“Now they’re meeting their health care needs, they’re getting medicine to improve their quality of life.”

The Yerby Health Center opened in February 2025 to provide services in Canberra’s north side, filling what the organization identified as a geographic gap.

“We provide culturally appropriate health care,” said Yerby CEO Professor D. Delaney-Thiel.

Nagnawal chief and Yerbi board member Warren Daly said the center removed some of the cultural barriers that prevented First Nations people from getting timely health care.

“We have elders in the community who don’t go and visit the doctor [it’s] As their last resort,” Mr Daly said.

“[Yerrabi has] Main health workers, main staff at the front desk; That’s what makes them happy to come and see someone.”

‘Takhari is just dry’

Yarrabee Yorwang Child and Family Parent Corporation was first established in 2019 and provides youth, housing and education programs, as well as running the Yarramundi Cultural Centre.

The health center is part of this corporation and is an accredited Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization (ACCHO), which means it meets the standards set by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

Existing operating budgets for the health center are derived from grants, management fees and other budgets across the organization.

“Having a GP here, it’s $10,000 a week … the coffers are just running dry,” Professor Delaney-Tilly said.

“No GP, no script…where will they get their medicine if the scripts run out?”

Ms Walker described the situation facing the health center as “heartbreaking”.

Hub applied for a loan from the ACT government

In the past year, the Yerby board says it has applied for funding assistance from both the federal and ACT governments, although unsuccessfully.

After months of requests, Yerby representatives finally got a meeting with federal Health Minister Mark Butler’s office in February.

It follows a meeting with the ACT Government in late December to request short-term bridge funding to help the facility stay open.

ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen Smith was briefed with a detailed budget and business case.

Ms Stephen Smith told the ABC last month: “I know that for some people, it would be really upsetting if Yarrabi stopped operating temporarily or permanently, and that’s actually really painful.”

The brief to the ACT Government included an interim funding request of $803,000 to cover four months of operations.

Health care providers had hoped those funds would fill the gap until federal funding applications open in the new fiscal year.

Yarrabi also asked ACT Health for a loan or alternative for a second doctor and nurse.

Neither funds nor staff were provided.

Yearby expects future funding

Primary health care is a Commonwealth responsibility, although the ACT provides some targeted funding to general practices, some of which is available to Yearby, although not until the new year.

But Ms Stephen Smith said in February that ACT Government funding was dependent on long-term support from the Commonwealth.

“If it’s not a sustainable operation, there’s a question about whether it’s a good use of money? [a] Short time,” she said.

However, the federal government’s Indigenous Australian Health Program (IAHP) is fully allocated this financial year, meaning the guarantees requested by the ACT government at the time cannot be provided by their federal counterparts.

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In a statement to the ABC, a government spokesman said:

“In 2026-27 the Department of Health, Disability and Aging will open the Australian Indigenous Health Program free of charge.

“Yarabe Yuwang is encouraged to consider applying through this competitive process.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Stephen Smith pointed out other services available to Yerbi patients.

“The Albanys Labor Government’s significant investment in bulk billing incentives in Canberra’s north has resulted in a range of bulk billing primary care services,” she said.

The federal government’s $7.9 billion bulk billing practice incentive program began Nov. 1.

Ms. Stephen Smith also asked Yerby to consider the scheme as a future source of income.

Yarrabi says the service shutdown will likely prevent them from becoming eligible.

Since the introduction of the federal scheme, the number of bulk billing practices in the ACT has increased from 10 to 18, out of a potential 100.

The data does not indicate where these new practices are located in Canberra.

The capital’s largest primary health service – Winonga Nemitja – is in Narrabandah, south of Canberra, and offers a wide range of primary and allied health services.

Canberra’s lowest bulk billing rates

Canberra has the lowest rate of bulk billing in the country, at 53 per cent, compared to the national average of 81 per cent.

Indigenous Australians are entitled to an annual bulk bill comprehensive health check.

Yarrabi’s doctors said this was often when serious, undiagnosed health problems surfaced.

However, only 18 per cent of the ACT’s First Nations community had access to these health screenings last year.

In a letter about the closure of the health center, Yerbi asked his patients to write to the Minister of Health as well as local members at both levels of government.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to get funding in 2026. … We live in hope as our leaders have before us.”