Australian Hockey Centre

The WA Government is investing $163 million to build the Australian Hockey Centre (AHC), making Western Australia the premier hockey destination in the country.

Western Australia has a rich hockey tradition which has enabled Australia’s men’s and women’s teams to be world leaders in the sport.

Perth Hockey Stadium, located at Curtin University’s Bentley campus, has been the home of hockey and Western Australia’s premier hockey venue since 1979. The Australian Institute of Sport’s Hockey Unit was established in Perth in 1984.

The current Perth Hockey Stadium will be developed into a contemporary 'Home of Hockey' that will be a world-class, high-performance centre and international competition venue, to include:

• 4 hockey pitches with at least 2 at International Hockey Federation (FIH) Category 1 standard
• 1000 seat stadium (under cover) with venue capacity of up to 10,000 in event mode
• Hockey Australia high-performance facilities, including gym, changerooms, recovery, consultation, physio and athlete wellbeing areas
• media and broadcast infrastructure
• community changerooms including dedicated storage areas for home clubs
• bar, kitchen, lounge and function area facilities
• indoor hockey centre (2 x FIH standard indoor courts)
• administration facilities for Hockey Western Australia and Hockey Australia.
  

The new facility is required to meet the current and future needs of hockey in WA and Hockey Australia’s requirements for the Centre of Excellence.

Hockey WA and its tenants will remain onsite for the duration of the build.

Artist’s impressions and fly through

Credit: Hunt Architects

Who is involved?

DLGSC is leading the Australian Hockey Centre project on behalf of the State, in close partnership with Department of Finance, VenuesWest, Hockey WA, Hockey Australia and other key stakeholders to ensure hockey and the WA hockey community is the big winner from this opportunity.

Project objectives

The AHC project aims to deliver a facility that:

• meets the requirements of the Hockey Australia bid to maintain the Hockey Australia High Performance Program (HAHPP) in Perth 
• ensures synergy is optimised between Hockey Australia and Hockey WA’s administration and operation
• provides appropriately located facilities to encourage access by users
• facilitates increased development and community programs for players, coaches, referees, and volunteers across WA
• provides facilities to host world, league and community competitions
• provides a high-quality training environment for national and community use
• increases participation and utilisation by community groups and high-performance partners
• provides the necessary infrastructure and services to increase the sustainability of Hockey WA and its associated operations
• provides the ability for the facility to be used as a training base for touring/international teams.

Background

In 2022, the WA Government, in partnership with Hockey WA, was successful in a national bid to host the Hockey Australia Centre for Excellence (HACE) and retain the Hockey Australia High Performance Program Perth.

The commitment agreement between Hockey Australia, Hockey WA and the WA Government has been executed, securing the HAHPP in Perth until 31 December 2042. This long-term approach will support the next 4 Olympic cycles and provide Hockey Australia with a solid foundation for building its program well into the future.

The agreement outlines the deliverables of the WA Government’s commitment to build the AHC and also commits the WA Government to provide funding to HA and HWA throughout the 18-year term.

In October 2024, the development deed was executed between the State and Curtin University securing the site to construct the Australian Hockey Centre.

The Australian Hockey Centre will commence construction in early 2026. Construction will support more than 200 jobs and contribute to $34.4 million in Gross State Product to WA.