Melbourne's purpose-built quarantine facility could house hundreds of refugees fleeing war-torn Afghanistan and Ukraine.
The Victorian government is in discussions with federal authorities about using the newly built $200 million Centre for National Resilience at Mickleham in Melbourne's north.
The 500-bed site, built by the Commonwealth and operated by the state, was opened in February and initially housed unvaccinated international travellers before the seven-day quarantine requirement was dumped.
Authorities are considering alternative uses for the centre, including housing the balance of about 500 refugees from Afghanistan and about 200 from Ukraine, Premier Daniel Andrews said.
"There's active work being done to see whether Mickleham, of course in partnership with the Commonwealth and other service providers, might well be the perfect place to provide those people with the resettlement that they need," he told reporters on Thursday.
"It's obviously a facility that could be used for lots of different things. I don't know how long they'd be there for."
Mr Andrews said he was briefed on the plan by his department secretary on Wednesday.
The facility was worth building despite international arrivals to Australia no longer needing to quarantine, the premier said.
"That facility is in some respects a bit of an insurance policy," he said.
"If we had that facility (earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic), we would have used it. Next time we need it, we'll use it, and in the intervening period it'll be made use of in lots of different ways: floods, fires, all sorts of different things."
The Department of Home Affairs has been contacted for comment.
