SA ministers acknowledge pressure on A$3.2 billion hospital budget
Lendlease is expected to provide a final construction price in late 2026 or early 2027, before the government considers any budget increase.
SA Health Minister Blair Boyer has declined to say whether Adelaide's new Women's and Children's Hospital can be built for A$3.2 billion, as the government awaits a final construction price from managing contractor Lendlease.
Boyer said that figure was expected by the end of 2026 or around the beginning of 2027. Ministers would then decide whether the project's allocation needed to rise. He said the detailed design for individual hospital rooms had recently been finished.
Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis acknowledged budget concerns but maintained that he wanted the hospital completed within its funding allocation and timetable. He said no-one had put a A$5 billion figure to him, rejecting speculation about that potential cost.
The auditor-general has warned that uncertainty over design costs and the selection of a major building contractor could leave the existing budget inadequate. The report also recorded a 3.2 per cent rise in SA's non-residential building construction costs over the past year.
Completion is scheduled for 2031. The Malinauskas government selected the Thebarton Police Barracks site on Port Road, abandoning the former Marshall government's proposal for a smaller site immediately west of the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
