‘Major downfall’: Concerns for people with disabilities as council moves to sell care centre

There are fears the lives of vulnerable adults with disabilities will be upended after the City of Stonnington council voted to sell off a prized pocket of land in Melbourne’s south-east used by a much-loved disability centre and food bank.

Thirty-six adults with disabilities attend the Fisher Street Centre in Malvern East for care and activities, and the centre has over decades developed into a tight-knit community that families say has given purpose to their loved ones.

However, it’s set to shut, the building demolished and the land subdivided after the council this month unanimously approved the sale.

Elena Christie’s brother, Damien, 55, has a high-needs disability and she fears he could become non-verbal when the centre closes, as he was heading down that path before first attending about a year ago.

Damien attends four days a week and Christie said her brother had become noticeably more chatty and animated since making many friends there.

“Damien will actually lose probably the most important thing for him in terms of his outward look onto life,” Christie said.

“I know it sounds overblown, but his reason for living may totally digress – I can see a major downfall for Damien’s life.”

Damien’s father, Peter, cares for both his wife, Jean, who is on dialysis, and their son.

The Christies fear that once the centre closes, Damien would end up watching television all day at home instead of participating in activities, as alternative NDIS services highlighted by the council don’t suit his needs.

Care provider Mecwacare has for years paid a peppercorn rent to the council to use the building for disability programs, including life skills such as cooking, handling money, communications and other activities. The centre is also used by the Malvern Emergency Food Program.

‘Don’t take this from them. They have nothing else in their lives but each other.’

A submission to the City of Stonnington on the closure of the Fisher Street Centre

Council documents say there is “low usage” among Stonnington residents, as just four people involved with disability programs lived in the municipality at mid-2025.

During last Monday’s council meeting, councillor Jami Klisaris said selling the land was a very difficult decision, but it was not a site Stonnington had a use for.

She said the council was reassessing old agreements amid a “tightly constrained budget environment” and rent for the facility paid to the council was essentially $10 a year.

“At the end of the day, the City of Stonnington is not an NDIS provider,” Klisaris said.

The land was originally two separate blocks measuring about 655 square metres each, and while the value of each block has not been made public, a nearby four-bedroom property on similar-sized block sold for more than $3.6 million in April 2025.

Proceeds from the sale of the Fisher Street Centre will go to the council’s future fund to pay for infrastructure projects.

The council last year received 44 submissions about the proposed sale, and the majority made public opposed the move.

“Don’t sell it, it’s my favourite place in the whole world,” one participant said in a submission.

One worker wrote: “Don’t take this from them. They have nothing else in their lives but each other.”

‘At the end of the day, the City of Stonnington is not an NDIS provider.’

City of Stonnington councillor Jami Klisaris

Some family members of participants said they would have to reduce or stop working to care for their loved ones, and they were stressed by the challenge of finding alternative services.

Deirdre McNally, who lives nearby, said she wished the centre could stay as it is, but hoped that it would become a community centre if used for another purpose.

“To sell off something like this just to make money is just a slap in the face,” McNally said.

Steven Lambert, Mecwacare’s executive director of client experience and growth, said the council offered the service provider the chance to buy the land, but Mecwacare’s capital was “fully committed elsewhere” so it declined.

Stonnington Mayor Melina Sehr said the council carefully considered a range of options including ways to support services continuing at Fisher Street.

Sehr said there was no offer to bump up the rent as Mecwacare had already indicated an “intention” to transfer the service to another external provider.

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