First pitch complete for Australia’s home of hockey
The Australian Hockey Centre is on track, with completion of one of four new international-standard pitches, including lighting and turf upgrades.
The world-class venue at Curtin University is set to bring hockey’s best to Perth, providing a shared space where elite athletes and grassroots players can train and play in the same facility.
Since winning the bid to host the Hockey Australia High Performance Program in Perth, the requirements for the facility have been confirmed and opportunities to improve community outcomes have been identified, including a fourth full size pitch and a children’s playing pitch.
To support these improvements the WA Government has boosted its support for the purpose-built project with a $28 million funding top up, bringing the total commitment from $135 million to $163 million.
This additional government investment will guarantee the delivery of the initial vision of a high-performance facility, and bolster community, family and grassroots engagement in hockey.
The modern facility, which will become the new home for the Hockey Australia Centre of Excellence and Hockey Australia High Performance Program, includes a specialist high performance training facility, an indoor hockey centre, four outdoor fields, a main stadium with a 10,000 spectators’ capacity in event mode, and modern broadcast capabilities.
To minimise disruptions to field access during construction, improvements to the northern pitch have occurred ahead of the commencement of major works. These works, which are now complete, included upgrading the pitch to a world cup quality surface and LED fittings, replacing old halogen lights.
In December 2022, Hockey Australia announced the WA Government was successful in its bid with Hockey WA and the WA Institute of Sport to have Perth remain Australia's home of hockey for the next 18 years. Once the centre is constructed, VenuesWest will own and manage the facility on behalf of the State.
The Expression of Interest for the Main Works tender is expected to be released shortly and contract awarded early next year.
Completion of the redevelopment is expected by April 2029.
A digital fly-through of the facility is available on the Australian Hockey Centre webpage.