Our Impact in Sri Lanka

We are a group of individuals working towards providing improved access to quality health care, with a strong focus on sustainability and education.

AUSLMAT visits Sri Lanka generally each year (sometimes more often). Each visit includes delivery of donated medical equipment and other supplies, hospital lectures, ward rounds, and clinics in remote areas and orphanages. The doctors are accompanied by medical students and nurses seeking to broaden their experience, families, friends and other supporters from many walks of life.

We pay for our own travel and accommodation, and raise money in Australia to buy medical supplies in Sri Lanka for medical clinics and hospitals. Every dollar we raise is used to improve the lives of less fortunate people in Sri Lanka. Our team is made up of doctors and other health practitioners, their families and friends. We have made lasting friendships in Sri Lanka and Australia, and enjoy helping others.

Our team members contribute their own funds, equipment and expertise to support hospital and community projects, and many volunteer their time directly in our medical clinics. Donations help us purchase essential medicines and medical equipment internationally and transport them to Sri Lanka. Where possible, we also source equipment locally, supporting the Sri Lankan economy while ensuring that medical instruments can be serviced and maintained locally under warranty. This approach helps us maximise the impact of every donation while building sustainable, long-term healthcare support.

Group photo in a dental clinic with staff and a patient.

Previous Missions

AUSLMAT’s volunteer medical teams and support staff provide hands-on clinical care to patients while also contributing to the upskilling of local hospital personnel. Over the years, AUSLMAT teams have delivered healthcare services to thousands of underprivileged individuals in remote and underserved regions of Sri Lanka, including the fishing community of Weligama near Galle; the farming town of Dehiattakandiya in the Eastern Province; remote villages surrounding Tissamaharama in the South-East; and tea estate communities in Hatton and Dik Oya.

These initiatives are made possible through the strong support of both Australian and Sri Lankan communities, whose assistance in raising funds, organising community clinics and navigating administrative and language barriers have been invaluable.

AUSLMAT teams typically visit Sri Lanka on an annual basis. Each mission includes the donation of medical equipment and supplies, the delivery of lectures and workshops for local healthcare staff, and outreach visits to rural schools and orphanages. Medical practitioners are joined by medical students, nurses, and allied health professionals seeking to broaden their clinical experience, as well as family members, friends, and supporters from diverse backgrounds.

All team members serve on a voluntary basis and personally cover their own expenses, including airfares, accommodation, and meals. As a result, 100% of the funds raised are directed toward the purchase of medicines and medical supplies used or donated during AUSLMAT missions.

AUSLMAT Pedal Sri Lanka Mission Report 2025 (pdf)Download

AUSLMAT Sri Lanka Aid Mission 2022 Report (docx)Download

AUSLMAT 2017 and 2018 MEDICAL MISSION REPORTS (pdf)Download

Completed projects

Some of the key projects completed by AUSLMAT include:

Assisting in the establishment of the Coronary Care Unit at Karapitiya Teaching Hospital.
Funding the construction of the Accident and Emergency Building at Karapitiya Teaching Hospital through a grant received from the Victorian Government.
Procuring and distributing medical equipment valued at AUD 250,000 to 26 hospitals across Sri Lanka during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Donating medicines and medical equipment worth AUD 235,000 to public hospitals during the 2023–2024 financial crisis.
Establishing a High Dependency Unit, Eye Clinic, and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Dehiattakandiya Base Hospital, with contributions exceeding AUD 100,000.
Providing nutritional support and essential medical consumables to multiple hospitals, including Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital and Apeksha Cancer Hospital.
Funding a battery backup system for the cardiac catheterisation laboratory at Sirimavo Bandaranaike Children’s Hospital, Peradeniya (AUD 18,000).
Partnering with Pedal Sri Lanka during 2024–2025 to raise over AUD 105,000, which was spent on purchasing medical equipment for Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital, Sirimavo Bandaranaike Children’s Hospital in Kandy, and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Kamburugamuwa hospital, Matara.
Partnered with Rotary International to provide essential critical-care equipment to Chilaw District Hospital in response to the devastating impact of Cyclone Ditwah, including a ventilator, five ICU monitors and an electric operating theatre bed.
Organised a workshop in Emergency Medicine for over 180 local doctors in partnership with Emergency Medicine Conference (EMx)
Donated an ultrasound machine worth AUD 40,000 to the Obstetric Unit at Kurunagala Teaching Hospital

In addition, AUSLMAT has shipped medical equipment worth millions of Australian dollars to Sri Lanka, generously donated in-kind by public and private hospitals across Australia, as well as by pharmaceutical companies.

Letters of Acknowledgement

A beautiful poem, thoughtfully written by the junior doctors of Dehiattakandiya Base Hospital, presented to AUSLMAT in heartfelt appreciation of the many projects undertaken in support of the hospital......

These contributions include the establishment of the High Dependency Unit during the COVID crisis, the development of the eye clinic, renovation of the children’s playground and the founding of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit—each reflecting a shared commitment to care and compassion and engagement with the local community.

Stories of hope

Here are a few stories where AUSLMAT has been able to make a difference to someone’s life…

Shamindi of Tissa

Shamindi met AUSLMAT at the Beralihela Medical Centre when we did a clinic with Dr. Erosha a few years ago. Her letter was written in English with the help of Hilary Mathiasz, the English tutor for the whole village. Beralihela and Tissamaharama are quite close to the Yala sanctuary. Many of these children have never visited the sanctuary because there is a fee to enter. They live close enough to hear the trumpeting of the wild elephants! AUSLMAT makes a stop-over at Yala from the east coast of Sri Lanka on each of our visits to Sri Lanka.

Shamindi was one of the first students to be enrolled in our Keep Kids in School programme which started with a request from Mr Hilary Mathiaisz, their English tutor. Mr. Mathiasz recognized the financial struggle that some of the families were going through like Shamindri’s after the Easter bombing and during the COVID crisis. With the financial assistance provided by our KKS program, many children like Shamindri were able to complete year 12 and move on to tertiary education.

Simple requests from Weligama fishermen

Nishantha and Kumara are men who used to go deep sea fishing off the coast of Weligama . They asked for some protection from the elements when they spend days out at sea. Most of the fish are dried and salted on board before they return to the Weligama harbour. They have lost friends and relatives who have never returned from such fishing trips – accepted by them as a part of life and the dangers of such an occupation.

Nishaji is the daughter of one of them – she has grown up to be a nurse in a public hospital, and has volunteered in AUSLMAT medical missions to help her countrymen.

Australia Sri Lanka Medical Aid Team Inc (AUSLMAT) is an Australian registered charity supporting health system and vulnerable communities in Sri Lanka. Donations are tax deductible within Australia 95% of donations directed to medicines and medical supplies View our public charity information on the ACNC Charity Register, including our profile, plus our ACNC documents and financial reports. https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/0b88986f-3aaf-e811-a963-000d3ad24077/profile

ABN: 65 616 241 216 | VIC Fundraising No.: 13625