Hospital Expansion Promises Brighter Future For Koalas

World-class tourism destination will retain the Koala Hospital’s unique natural setting and magnificent native trees. In 2019, the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital received incredibly exciting news. Our application to the New South Wales (NSW) Government for a grant to rebuild the Hospital had been successful!

Funded entirely by private donations since it started in 1973, the much-loved and well-used Hospital is in need of major change and renovation in order to continue best practice in treatment of koalas, to further improve the visitor experience, and to increase education, training and research facilities.

Whilst we will continue to depend on public generosity for running costs, this substantial grant of $5 million is now enabling us to rebuild the Hospital and deliver a new, world-class nature based tourism destination in 2025. There will also be interpretive signage, new clinic, administration area, Indigenous storytelling space, educational nature walks and much more.

The new Koala Hospital is in the pre-construction phase, meaning that planning is underway to define how this project will be delivered over the next year. Key planning elements include a facilities brief, refinement of the budget and timelines, decisions about how we will engage with consultants, builders and stakeholders, and setting the reporting requirements.

The Koala Hospital is adjacent to the heritage building, Roto House, and located within a National Park, which means a number of requirements of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service must be met. After the koalas themselves, the trees are one of the most important aspects of the redevelopment. A priority within architectural designs is the retention of the magnificent native trees which are a feature of the Koala Hospital and Roto House.

This project is proudly funded by the NSW Government’s Restart NSW program in association with Koala Conservation Australia Inc.