The Aboriginal Health Service opened on Gertrude Street in 1973, co-founded by Alma Thorpe, her mother Edna Brown, and Bruce McGuinness.

A nearby street behind a factory was a meeting and drinking place, known to the community as Charcoal Lane.

[4] Gentrification of the area, which had started in the 1980s, continued into the 2000s, with Gertrude Street being transformed into a string of fine dining restaurants, art galleries, bookshops and fashion stores.

[5] In 2009 the Aboriginal Health Service building at 136 Gertrude Street was converted into a social enterprise restaurant called Charcoal Lane,[5][6] run by Mission Australia, which provided training for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and became well known for its gastronomy.

[7] It closed its doors in August 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the historic building was handed back to the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS).