Asbestos find closes government building, disrupts health services | Region Canberra
6 July 2026Start the conversationThe City Community Health Centre at 1 Moore Street is closed until at least the weekend. Photo: ACT Government. The finding of asbestos in the building at 1 Moore Street in the. . .
6 July 2026Start the conversationThe City Community Health Centre at 1 Moore Street is closed until at least the weekend. Photo: ACT Government. The finding of asbestos in the building at 1 Moore Street in the CBD has forced the temporary closure of the City Community Health Centre and the Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN). Both have organised alternative arrangements for staff and users of their services. Infrastructure Canberra, as the operating landlord, shut the building down last week after discovering dust-like asbestos-containing material in a plant room. Monitoring, testing and specialist investigations are now taking place. Specialist consultants have advised the agency to close the building up to and including Friday, 10 July. “The health and safety of all building occupants remain the highest priority, and any decision regarding reoccupation of the building will continue to be guided by expert advice,” Infrastructure Canberra said. Services that usually operate from 1 Moore Street are closed or temporarily working from other locations. Infrastructure Canberra said arrangements were being put in place to support affected tenants and minimise disruption to services wherever possible. Canberra Health Services (CHS) said it ran many services from 1 Moore Street, including a range of community, mental health, alcohol and drug, women’s health, child and family health, dental and screening services. It said that alternative arrangements had been made to ensure essential community health services that usually operate from 1 Moore Street could continue to be delivered while the building is closed. “Depending on the service, this includes temporary relocation to another CHS site, telehealth appointments or the rescheduling of non-urgent appointments,” a spokesperson said. Patients with appointments affected by the closure were being contacted directly. The asbestos find came about on 29 June during maintenance activities when the dust-like material was identified in the plant room. The plant room was immediately isolated and the material sampled for testing. Results confirmed the presence of asbestos. The CBRIN team said it continued to operate remotely and apologised for the inconvenience and business disruption this caused to innovation community members who used or were scheduled to use the space. “We are working with our Foundation Members and the ACT Government to arrange alternative spaces for companies and users of our space to utilise,” it said. “Our team is working hard to make this work for all involved. Any affected member of the innovation community can reach out to us atenquiries@cbrin. com. aufor assistance. ”Never miss the local news and views that matter. Subscribe to receive the latest local voices straight to your inbox. Get all the local information you want, when you want it. Download the Riotact app to get all the latest news, events and opinions wherever you are. Region Media acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and report. We pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present and emerging and commit our company to ongoing acts of reconciliation.