Medical fitouts in Canberra
Medical, dental and veterinary practice fitouts across Canberra and the ACT, where leasehold land and a single territory planning authority make the approvals pathway unlike any state.
Practice fitouts in Canberra
Medical, dental and veterinary tenancies across metropolitan Canberra.
Start a projectCanberra's clinical property is concentrated in the group centres and in purpose-built medical buildings near the Canberra and Calvary hospitals. The territory's Crown lease system is the thing worth understanding first: the purpose clause on the lease governs what the building may be used for, and no amount of planning goodwill substitutes for it.
Councils we work across
Canberra Central, Belconnen, Woden Valley, Weston Creek, Tuggeranong, Gungahlin, Molonglo Valley and the group centres at Dickson, Kingston, Braddon, Phillip, Mawson and Kippax.
Getting a clinic approved in Australian Capital Territory
The ACT is different, and it catches people out. All land is held under a Crown lease with a defined purpose clause, so before planning approval is even relevant you have to check that the lease permits a health-care use. Where it does not, a lease variation is required, which is a separate and sometimes lengthy process with a charge attached.
Development applications are then assessed by the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate under the Planning Act 2023, followed by building approval from a licensed building certifier.
Imaging equipment requires shielding designed by a radiation consultant, and a licence from ACT Health under the Radiation Protection Act 2006.
Approvals, not construction, are the part of a Canberra program that varies most. A realistic opening date depends on knowing which pathway your tenancy falls into before you sign for it.
What we fit out in Canberra
Medical centres
GP clinics, specialist consulting suites, multidisciplinary centres and day procedure rooms.
Medical fitoutsDental practices
Surgeries, sterilisation, imaging alcoves and on-site labs.
Dental fitoutsVeterinary clinics
Consult, prep and surgery, isolation, kennels and cattery.
Veterinary fitoutsOptometry practices
Refraction and pre-test rooms, dispensary and frame display.
Optometry fitoutsOther cities we work in
Six capitals, six approvals pathways. See all locations, read how approvals work state by state, or start with what every healthcare fitout has to solve.
Fitout costs in Canberra
The indicative ranges published on this site, $1,200 to $1,800 per square metre for a dental base build, $1,400 to $2,200 for general practice and $1,500 to $2,300 for a small animal veterinary clinic, all apply across the capital cities. Trade rates vary between them, but not by as much as shell condition varies between two tenancies on the same street.
What genuinely differs by city is the approvals pathway and the time it takes, which shows up in rent during construction not in the build rate.
Full cost breakdownCanberra fitout questions
What is different about fitting out a clinic in Canberra?
The Crown lease. All ACT land is leasehold with a purpose clause that defines the permitted use. If the lease doesn’t allow a health-care use, you need a lease variation before planning approval is even the question, and that is a separate process with a charge attached.
Who assesses a development application in the ACT?
The Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, under the Planning Act 2023. Building approval then comes from a licensed building certifier.
What does imaging require in the ACT?
Shielding designed by a radiation consultant, plus a licence from ACT Health under the Radiation Protection Act 2006.
How much does a medical fitout cost in Canberra?
The published ranges apply nationally: $1,400 to $2,200 per square metre for general practice on a warm shell, excluding equipment and GST. In Canberra the variable most likely to surprise you is time rather than rate, because of the lease variation pathway.
Send us the floor plan
A site assessment tells you what the tenancy can take and what it will cost to get there, ideally before you have signed for it.