The new BreastScreen Tasmania bus will not be on the road until February after its builder failed to meet the December delivery timeframe.
Health Minister Bridget Archer said the Department of Health had been told in recent weeks that Varley Group had pushed back delivery of the mobile screening unit to February 15 next year, with the bus to be on the road in late February.
“Given the importance of this service to our rural and regional areas, this was not an acceptable outcome for the Tasmanian government or our community,” she said.
Archer said she had met with Varley several times and escalated the matter directly to the company’s chief executive, who committed to exploring all options to speed up delivery.
She said Varley had this week advised it would commit additional hours and overtime to complete the build at no cost to the government.
The bus is now expected to arrive in Tasmania by January 20 and be in the community by the first week of February.
“While I remain extremely disappointed the December timeframe could not be met, I am satisfied that Varley is doing all it can to complete the build as quickly as possible,” Archer said.
The replacement has been delayed several times.
The state’s mobile unit Luna was taken off the road in April 2025, leaving one bus, Ida, to cover the state.
Varley Group was selected to build the new unit in October 2025. Delivery was first expected by about September this year, then pushed back to December.
An itinerary for the bus will be released in coming weeks and BreastScreen Tasmania will contact eligible Tasmanians in the areas it will visit to encourage early bookings.
The BreastScreen Tasmania Client Travel Subsidy and other community transport arrangements remain available in the meantime.
Archer said the department was also working on procurement for a third mobile screening unit, saying it “appropriately recognises that this situation cannot occur again”.
