COMMUNITY PETITION

Addressed to the NSW State Government & Federal Government of Australia

 
URGENT CALL FOR EXPANDED RESOURCES &

INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AT

CAMPBELLTOWN HOSPITAL

Macarthur Region — South-Western Sydney

 
 

TO:  The Honourable Minister for Health, NSW Government
We, the undersigned residents, families, healthcare professionals, and community members of the Macarthur region and surrounding areas, hereby submit this urgent petition calling on the NSW State Government and the Federal Government of Australia to take immediate, decisive, and long-term action to fund, expand, and adequately resource Campbelltown Hospital to meet the rapidly growing healthcare demands of one of Australia's fastest-growing regions.

 

 
BACKGROUND & CONTEXT
The Macarthur region — encompassing Campbelltown, Camden, and the greater South-Western Sydney growth corridor — is experiencing one of the most significant population booms in New South Wales. In the past decade alone, more than ten new residential suburbs have been established in the area, bringing tens of thousands of new residents. Young families are relocating to the region in unprecedented numbers, attracted by housing affordability, new schools, and developing infrastructure.

 

Despite this explosive population growth, healthcare infrastructure — particularly at Campbelltown Hospital, the primary public hospital serving the region — has critically failed to keep pace. The community is being left behind, and lives are at risk.

 

 
KEY ISSUES & COMMUNITY CONCERNS
1.  Critical Shortage of Hospital Beds
The existing bed capacity at Campbelltown Hospital is severely insufficient. Specifically, the community urgently needs:

•       Medical and Surgical Beds — with population growth driving a marked increase in acute admissions, available beds are routinely at capacity, causing delays in treatment and unsafe patient flow.

•       Rehabilitation Beds — patients recovering from surgery, strokes, and other conditions face protracted waits or must be transferred to distant facilities for rehabilitation care.

•       Palliative Care Beds — families in the Macarthur region deserve access to dignified end-of-life care close to home. Current palliative care capacity is wholly inadequate.

•       Geriatric and Aged Care Beds — the ageing population within the region, combined with a growing cohort of elderly residents relocating to be near families, has created an acute shortage of geriatric beds. Older Australians deserve timely, local care.

 

2.  Overwhelmed Emergency Department
Campbelltown Hospital's Emergency Department is operating under extreme and unsustainable pressure. Extended waiting times, ambulance ramping, and insufficient triage capacity are now routine. Patients presenting with serious conditions face unacceptable delays that can compromise outcomes. The Emergency Department requires immediate investment in staffing, physical space, and equipment.

 

3.  Lack of Specialist Services and Procedures
A significant number of essential medical tests, diagnostics, and surgical procedures are simply not available at Campbelltown Hospital. Patients — including vulnerable elderly, post-operative, and chronically ill individuals — are routinely redirected to Liverpool Hospital, creating:

•       Significant travel hardship, particularly for those without private transport or with mobility limitations.

•       Increased pressure on Liverpool Hospital, which serves an already large catchment area.

•       Extended wait times for procedures due to the overflow of patients between hospitals.

•       Increased risk of adverse health outcomes for patients who must wait longer for time-sensitive procedures.

This is unacceptable. Campbelltown Hospital must be resourced to deliver a full suite of diagnostic and procedural services to the Macarthur community.

 

4.  Rapidly Growing Birth Rate and Maternity Demand
The influx of young families into the Macarthur region has produced a substantial and sustained increase in the local birth rate. Maternity services, neonatal support, and postnatal care must be expanded urgently to match demand. Young mothers and their newborns deserve access to quality maternity care without having to travel to other districts.

 

5.  Failure of Infrastructure to Match Residential Development
More than ten new suburbs have been developed and populated in the Macarthur area in recent years, yet healthcare infrastructure has received little to no commensurate investment. Residential developments are approved and built at pace, but public health services — which are a fundamental right of all Australians — are left severely behind. This represents a systemic and deeply concerning policy failure that must be urgently corrected.

 

 
WE CALL ON THE NSW STATE GOVERNMENT & FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO:
•       Commission and publicly release an urgent, independent assessment of Campbelltown Hospital's current capacity against projected population needs for the next 20 years.

•       Fund a major expansion of Campbelltown Hospital, including new medical, surgical, rehabilitation, palliative care, and geriatric wards with appropriate staffing.

•       Invest in a purpose-built or significantly expanded Emergency Department to safely handle current and projected patient volumes.

•       Establish a full range of specialist services, diagnostics, and surgical procedures at Campbelltown Hospital, eliminating unnecessary referrals to Liverpool Hospital for routine services.

•       Expand maternity and neonatal services to reflect the region's growing birth rate.

•       Develop and publicly commit to a long-term Strategic Healthcare Plan for the Macarthur region, with clear milestones, accountability measures, and funding commitments.

•       Mandate that future residential development approvals in the Macarthur region be accompanied by proportional investment in public healthcare infrastructure.

•       Increase the healthcare workforce at Campbelltown Hospital, including doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, and support staff, to safely support expanded services.

 

 
STATEMENT FROM THE COMMUNITY
The residents of the Macarthur region are not asking for special treatment — we are asking for the same standard of public healthcare that every Australian deserves. Our community has grown rapidly, our families are young, our elderly population is vulnerable, and our hospital is struggling. We cannot wait any longer.

We respectfully but firmly demand that both State and Federal Governments act immediately, plan strategically, and invest meaningfully in the health and wellbeing of the people of Macarthur.

 
 

 
This petition will be submitted to:

The NSW Minister for Health  |  Local State Members of Parliament  |  Federal Members for Macarthur & Hume

NSW Health Secretary  |  The Australian Minister for Health and Aged Care

Initiated by the Macarthur Community — 1 June 2026