Australia's first public residential eating disorders centre will open for patients next week in Canberra.
Some ACT residents previously sought help for eating disorders interstate due to a lack of local facilities.
The Coombs-based 12-bed program will provide free support for people with eating disorders in the ACT and surrounds.
An estimated 18,500 Canberrans, or 4 per cent of the population, have an eating disorder.
The Coombs facility is inspired by Wandi Nerida, a private Queensland facility which costs patients tens of thousands of dollars to attend.
Patients have already been booked in for day programs at the Canberra centre.
Some of those patients will voluntarily commit to living there.
The average stay is estimated to be between two to fourth months, ACT Mental Health minister Emma Davidson said.
"It's a place where people age 16 and older will be able to come and work with dietitians, social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists, [and] art and music therapists on their journey to recovery," she said.
"We can provide for people of all genders and all body shapes and sizes, and it's a very inclusive space."
As the centre has received federal funding, it will be available to people outside the ACT. Canberrans will not be prioritised.
Ms Davidson said other centres opening around Australia would eventually ease pressure on the ACT site.
The program is for people who are medically stable.
Ms Davidson said the government may later consider developing facilities for people who need more medical support.
"There are quite a significant number of people who are medically stable but really need to do some intensive residential therapeutic care on their journey to recovery, and this is a model of care that will really work for that," she said.
The hospital is a better place for people who need support with feeding, operational director of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Sarah Toohey said.
She said the centre was specifically for people struggling with anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder.
It can help people who need more support than day programs, or who are leaving hospital.
"We have a very comprehensive therapeutic program, every day is filled with different elements of therapeutic engagement," Ms Toohey said.
This includes art and music therapy, work with a dietician, exercise physiologist, social worker, psychologist or nurse.
"We also have a home-like environment that is about engaging people in cooking. We have a gardening program to help people kind of recognise the values of being in the soil, growing things, growing food, and then seeing that food on the plate. It's creating a whole new relationship with food and wellbeing," she said.
The Butterfly Foundation says patients who receive early intervention support are twice as likely to recover from an eating disorder.
