By MATILDA BOSELEY

An unoccupied war repatriations building will transform into an art gallery for former servicemen and women after four years of lobbying by a veterans group.

Independent Senator Derryn Hinch told Australian National Veterans’ Art Museum (ANVAM) chairman Mark Johnston on Channel 7 News last week the ANVAM is “yours forever".

“It will be sold to the state government, who will lease it back to you for a peppercorn rent,” Senator Hinch said.

The old Repatriation Commission Outpatient Clinic, beside the historic Victoria Barracks in St Kilda Rd, will also provide art therapy for veterans who feel they need support for a mental health issue, by creating a place for self-expression.

"It's a little bit surreal. We have been going at it so long now, nearly four years," Mr Johnston said.

After the federal government denied them ownership, ANVAM created a change.org petition, and asked the Victorian government to buy the land.

"[The state government] had just gone quiet," Mr Johnston said. ANVAM had no assurances that once the block was bought it would be available to them. "They could [have turned] it into a new office block," he said.

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But all that changed when Mr Johnston met Senator Hinch at a bar in Canberra.

"I was having a drink one night at the bar ... Derryn walked in and I said to my mate, 'I'm going to grab him’.”

When Senator Hinch found out about the empty building he was "gob-smacked" and took it on as a “pet project”, quickly pushing negotiations through within a number of weeks, Mr Johnston said.

This gallery will help fight the mental health crisis gripping the veteran community, he said.

“Being a cultural institution was a means to an end, the end is the wellbeing of ex-serving members and their families."

Veteran suicides were significantly higher compared to the general population and Mr Johnston said this was because the Australian defence Force had a reactionary, rather than preventative, approach to mental illness. 

“The federal government is so caught up in creating places like veteran suicide prevention centres ... no one wants to go there. It does my head in that they think that would work. Instead [the gallery] will be a place of celebration and vitality," Mr Johnston said.

"There will be opportunities to try and get collaborative exhibitions with other countries. Either allies ... or former enemies," he said.

The building was in serious disrepair and Mr Johnston said it would need millions of dollars in restoration. Funding for the project would likely be split between the federal and state governments and philanthropic societies.

"I'd say at best two years from now," he said.

The Museum is currently holding its inaugural exhibition A March To Art: Identity at 278 Collins St, Melbourne. All works are by people who have served in the military or who are within a veteran’s family circle. Entry is free.