How shopping centers have evolved to include medical services enhancing convenience and diversifying tenancy mix in Australia's retail landscape.
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The new tenants: healthcare in Australian shopping centres
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The history of shopping centres stems back to the original public marketplaces and bazars of Europe and the Middle East, a place where vendors would gather to sell goods, creating a singular location for consumers to gather, shop and connect. This principle of traders centralised into one location is what led to the modern-day shopping centre, first pioneered in the U.S. located in suburban landscapes rather than city centres and led by the rise of car ownership and convenient shopping experiences.
Australia’s first shopping centre opened in 1957 in Chermside, Brisbane (QLD), today known as Westfield Chermside, with 486 retailers, grown from the original 25 specialty stores and singular department store. While traditional healing was among the activities that happened in historical marketplaces and bazaars, the first modern day malls were not the chosen location for physicians and allied health services. The original Chermside had no medical services, albeit did house an optometrist and chemist, while Westfield Chermside today has two general practitioner based medical centres, with one encompassing pathology services.
Shopping centres and their tenancy mix have grown nationally since 1957 with Australia currently having 96 regional centres larger than 50,000 sqm GLA. Medical tenancies are becoming increasingly popular within retail centres with landlords favouring the secure, non-discretionary retailer type and longer lease terms associated with the larger and more comprehensive medical centres. Not only is this ideal for landlords as it broadens their tenancy mix but in turn this increases convenience for the consumer combining a further essential service to the diverse discretionary and non-discretionary amenities that regional centres provide.
All 96 regional centres over 50,000 sqm in Australia were examined on their medical service offering 77 out of 96 (80%) were found to have at least one general practitioner-based clinic as a part of their tenancy mix. Out of 19 that don’t offer general practitioner services, 12 were found to either be adjacent to a major hospital or medical precinct, and three are located in a capital city CBD precinct.
Figure 1: General practitioners in Australian regional centres
Source: JLL Research, Q2 2025
On a state-by-state basis, all Victorian regional centres analysed were found to have at least one general practitioner service offering, the only state where this is seen. Australia’s eastern seaboard (Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and ACT) account for 74 of the centres nationally and combined, only have 6 without a general practitioner service offered: three out of 35 in NSW, only one out of 18 in QLD, and two out of four in the ACT.
Allied health services, were also examined with 40 centres nationally (42%) offering at least one such service. The most common service offered is pathology, typically seen alongside general practitioner services, with 20 centres having at least one pathology clinic. Other notable offerings included psychology services (11 centres), chiropractic and physiotherapy services (11 centres), and imaging clinics (9 centres).
Figure 2: Allied health services in Australian regional centres
Source: JLL Research, Q2 2025
Ultimately, the integration of medical and allied health services into Australian regional centres demonstrates their adaptability, moving away from traditional, conventional shopping to encompass a broader range of services at convenience to the consumer.