The Queensland Government will be acting quickly to secure and make safe the site, liaising closely with Griffith University in the process.

Griffith University has indicated it will vacate the Mt Gravatt campus in late 2025 – early 2026 and the Queensland Government will be reviewing other future options for the site.

The project will refurbish and repurpose vacant former student accommodation. Griffith University put forward the proposal as part of the Queensland Government’s Housing Roundtable and Summit as the facility was no longer being used for student accommodation.

The facility will provide temporary and short-term housing to adults with low level support needs who are having difficulty finding a suitable and affordable place to live, until they can find more permanent accommodation. While it will provide a dignified temporary home, the facility will not be fit for purpose as a longer-term accommodation option. There is no plan as part of this project to relocate residents from existing Department of Housing homes to the new temporary accommodation facility.

While the proposed cohort of residents has been identified (single people or couples, with low level support needs and whose main issue is affordability and finding a suitable place to live, therefore needing access to temporary or short-term housing until they can find more permanent options), specific details such as tenancy management and traffic management will be resolved with input from the operator (once identified), giving consideration to feedback from the community.

The Department of Communities, Housing and the Digital Economy is responsible for engaging an appropriate experienced provider to manage the facility. The Department is progressing discussions with the community housing provider sector in this regard and specific details around tenancy management will be resolved with input from the operator (once identified), giving consideration to feedback from the community. 

Since the opportunity to repurpose the former student accommodation at Griffith University’s Mount Gravatt Campus as temporary accommodation was identified as part of the recent Housing Roundtable, the Queensland Government has been working with Griffith University to determine how best to use the existing buildings as quickly as possible.  After completion of initial site investigations, works to repurpose and refurbish the existing buildings to create appropriate living spaces are now underway in line with the relevant legislative and regulatory pathways, with the intention that these buildings can be operational as quickly as possible to temporarily house those members of the community who have never before experienced homelessness or loss of housing, and for who affordability is the main issue. 

From a community consultation perspective, initial consultation has included the development of this ‘Have Your Say’ project page, which was launched on the DSDILGP’s website on 15 December 2022 and EDQ has been actively responding to queries raised by the community through this forum, and other avenues. 

The safety and security of both the residents and those in the immediate area is a key priority of the Queensland Government, and design and operational factors that provide comfort in this regard continue to be developed. The Queensland Government will be seeking community input on these aspects. EDQ will host a number of information sessions, giving the community an opportunity to drop-in and find out more about the project and to speak with our team. 

Further details about the sessions will be available on this page over the coming weeks.

Thank you for your question.  

To stay informed, please visit the Mount Gravatt Temporary Accommodation Project Have Your Say web page and register to receive updates about the project.