The expansion of Mates4Mates in 2023.

This year, Mates4Mates will be expanding across various locations in Queensland and the Northern Territory, ensuring veterans and their families have access to more support services and connection. If you’d like to find out more about these new centres, contact the team on 1300 4 MATES.

Cairns, QLD

As the demand for Mates4Mates and its services continues to grow in Far North Queensland, the Mates4Mates Cairns office re-located to a larger space for local veterans and families to visit.

We’re now located at 280-286 Sheridan Street in Cairns City, within the RSL Queensland Regional Services Centre which houses staff from RSL Queensland and the RSL Far Northern District Office, providing a range of support services in the one location.

The dedicated space has been expanded to include availability for social connection activities and telehealth clinical services. Connection and peer-support is an integral part of Mates4Mates, and this new centre in Cairns can help facilitate that within the community.

Ipswich, QLD

Over the last two years, Mates4Mates has provided dedicated services to current and ex-serving Defence Force personnel and their families in the Ipswich region, continually increasing its range of activities within the community. In light of this, the Mates4Mates Ipswich Family Recovery Centre will provide more of this more often.

South East Queensland Regional Manager, Laura Duckworth shared her excitement about the Ipswich Family Recovery Centre opening.

“We are thrilled to continue our commitment to provide a way forward for veterans and family members impacted by service within the Ipswich and surrounding regions,” Laura said.

The Ipswich centre, located at Level 1, 260 Brisbane Street in West Ipswich, will allow the Ipswich Defence community to access a range of support services that they may have already been accessing from the Brisbane Family Recovery Centre or the Online Family Recovery Centre.

Stuart Park, NT

With the Northern Territory home to thousands of Defence personnel, veterans, and their families looking for support and mateship, Mates4Mates were honoured in 2020 to have been selected as the lead organisation to deliver the Department of Veterans’ Affairs $5 million Veterans’ and Families’ Hub in Darwin.

The new Mates4Mates Veteran and Family Wellbeing Centre in Stuart Park, located at 39 Stuart Highway, will be a home for a number of veterans’ support services, including a gym, clinical services, a veterans’ lounge, space for popular social connection activities run by Mates4Mates, as well as other veterans’ support organisations all with the goal of supporting veterans and Defence Force personnel and their families.

Since opening the initial Mates4Mates centre in Palmerston in 2021, the Defence community in the Top End have provided strong support and demand for Mates4Mates services.