The former Queenscliff Community Health Centre, a local landmark that served the Northern Beaches community for more than 40 years, is now mid-way through its transformation into 37 social housing apartments, with priority given to women at risk of homelessness and seniors aged 55 and over.
Community housing provider Link Wentworth is delivering the three-storey development under Round One of the Housing Australia Future Fund, supported by more than $6.5 million in additional funding. Construction is on track for completion by late 2026. For Queenscliff residents, the project breathes new life into a building that has been at the heart of the suburb since it opened, ensuring the former health centre continues to serve the community rather than sitting vacant.
Out of respect for the privacy and safety of future residents, the specific street address is not published. The development is referred to publicly as the Queenscliff development.
A Health Centre Reimagined
The Queenscliff Community Health Centre served the Northern Beaches community for more than four decades before closing in 2018 following the opening of a new health facility at Brookvale. The building sat dormant for several years while Link Wentworth and Landcom worked through the planning and approval process before construction began.
Rather than demolishing and rebuilding, Link Wentworth chose to honour the history and architecture of the original health centre by incorporating the site and its surrounding amenities directly into the new design. The result is a three-storey complex that respects the character of the original building while completely transforming its purpose. A building that once provided healthcare to generations of Northern Beaches families now provides something just as fundamental: a safe and stable place to live.
The 37 apartments across the complex comprise 27 studio apartments, eight one-bedroom apartments and two two-bedroom apartments, with each home designed to offer genuine long-term security to its occupants rather than temporary accommodation.
Addressing a Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight
The decision to prioritise women at risk of homelessness and seniors aged 55 and over reflects a pattern that 2021 Census data makes clear: women aged 55 and over are the fastest growing group experiencing homelessness in Australia, recording a six per cent increase in the most recent count.
The drivers are structural and persistent. Lower lifetime earnings, limited superannuation accumulation and rising living costs combine to place older women at particular financial risk as they age, with many facing housing insecurity for the first time late in life and with few options to course-correct. On the Northern Beaches, where rental vacancy rates are among the lowest in Sydney and median rents sit well above state averages, that vulnerability is especially acute.
Link Wentworth chief executive Andrew McAnulty noted the organisation sees firsthand through its housing operations how profoundly a safe, stable and affordable home changes the course of a person’s life. The Queenscliff health centre site, he said, will do exactly that for some of the Northern Beaches’ most vulnerable residents, turning a familiar local building into a place those residents can genuinely call home.
Link Wentworth on the Northern Beaches
Link Wentworth is one of Australia’s leading community housing providers, managing social and affordable housing across Sydney with a long-standing presence on the Northern Beaches. The organisation manages homes in perpetuity rather than as time-limited projects, meaning the Queenscliff development will serve vulnerable residents of the area for generations rather than as a short-term measure. Tenants pay rent calculated as a proportion of their income, ensuring homes remain genuinely affordable for those on very low to low incomes.
What Comes Next
Construction continues through 2026, with the development expected to welcome its first residents by late in the year. Applications for social housing are managed through Housing Pathways, the centralised NSW system, and residents can register their interest or update existing applications at housing.nsw.gov.au.
For more information about Link Wentworth and its housing services, visit linkwentworth.org.au or call 13 14 21.
Published 26-February-2026.
