But the territory's newest hydrotherapy pool, opened in Bruce in 2018, has had to be closed a number of times in the same period due to equipment breakdown, according to answers to questions taken on notice.

The government has maintained the upkeep of the Canberra Hospital pool is unsustainable. It comes after the government on Wednesday released a report from consultant Nous Group which made the case for a new hydrotherapy pool in Canberra's south. It noted Canberra Hospital's pool was at the end of its life.

In May, the government backed down on plans to close the Canberra Hospital pool by June, instead agreeing to keep it open until a viable alternative was found.

A hydrotherapy pool was opened in 2018 at the new University of Canberra Hospital, but Arthritis ACT said it would have to turn clients away if the Canberra Hospital pool was closed without a southside alternative.

The government has maintained the Canberra Hospital pool - built in the 1960s - was rapidly ageing and expensive to maintain, and would therefore need to close.

But Mrs Dunne said the answers she received to questions on notice showed there were few maintenance issues at the pool.

"It has not closed down once in the last year for unscheduled maintenance and I was surprised because I kept being told its on its last legs, we're sort of holding it up with gaffer tape," she said.

"It is not the case, I've spoken to people who do the maintenance and it's in good order."

Mrs Dunne said she believed the government was less concerned about the maintenance costs as it was with getting access to the site the pool was on.

But a Canberra Health Services spokeswoman said the pool was able to stay open because it was maintained outside of hours.

"This approach, and the work health and safety risk mitigation measures currently in place, have enabled the pool to remain accessible for the last 12 months," she said.

"However, this is not sustainable in the longer term."

Arthritis ACT chief executive Rebecca Davey said the group's members felt like they were in a holding pattern.

"They just want to know what's going on. For our members hydrotherapy isn't just about moving and doing the exercise. It's about reducing their social isolation, it's about the mental health support they get from each other, it's about the community they have built up from the pool," she said.

"They just want to know what is the pathway and what is going to happen and can they stay together as a community."