Health Department moving TGA to new $60 million Canberra Airport campus

The new campus will house the whole of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, an arm of the Health Department, and also be a secondary office space for other department staff, in addition to its primary headquarters in Woden.

A parliamentary inquiry will examine the new development announced on Thursday.

The Health Department told Parliament, in a submission detailing the proposed works, several planning outcomes would be considered including COVID-19 restrictions.

"The office fitout will be designed in accordance with the principles of the department's New Ways of Working initiative, COVID Safe practices, and experience with remote working, with a ratio of seven workstations for every 10 employees," the submission read.

The department expects to save more than $100 million over the life of the leases by moving to the new Fairbairn offices compared with the Symonston facility.

It will enter a 15-year lease at the airport with two five-year extension options. The campus is expected to house 730 staff, comprised of 650 TGA staff and 80 staff relocated from the Woden headquarters.

The project will consist of 5200 square metres of specialised laboratory space and a further 8500 square metres of offices, connected by a covered walkway. The office space will account for $18.6 million, with the other $42 million for the laboratories.

The new campus will have 4800 square metres less lettable space than Symonston, a 26 per cent reduction. The submission stated that as the TGA's requirements have changed since entering the Symonston facility in 1992 and it now requires less laboratory space.

Health expects to achieve a ratio of 11.64 square metres per work point, exceeding the Finance Department's target of 14 square metres per desk.

In preparation for the end of the Symonston lease in 2022, the department approached the market to determine its future accommodation.

It shortlisted three proposals for new buildings, being the Canberra Airport development eventually chosen, a new development at Dairy Flat Road in Fyshwick proposed by Molonglo Group and a new building at the existing Symonston site.

Due to the nature of the work conducted in TGA laboratories, it must be located in industrial zoned areas.

The submission also stated the current Symonston facility was not up to standard and would require significant refurbishments if staff were to stay there beyond the current lease.

"The existing Symonston facility is around 30 years old," the submission said.

"It does not meet modern standards, is expensive to run, and does not meet the employee amenity expectations of modern Australia."

TGA staff are expected to move into the new offices in May 2022.