Karuna

What Karuna does

Karuna Hospice Services Ltd is a registered Australian charity (ABN 28 055 211 473) operating since 1992 as a specialist, community-based palliative care organisation serving the Brisbane North region from its headquarters at 27 Cartwright Street, Windsor, Queensland. Guided by Buddhist principles of compassionate care, Karuna delivers a coordinated suite of services for patients with life-limiting illness, their carers and families, and the wider community, including in-home specialist palliative care, carer support and education, spiritual care with mindfulness and reflection resources, grief and bereavement programs (notably the six-session Grief Peer Support: Living After Loss program delivered with Wellways Carer Gateway), and community education through its What About Death!? podcast and resource hub. The organisation explicitly extends inclusive services to underserved cohorts including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, LGBTIQA+ communities, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, refugees and asylum seekers, and regional and remote Queenslanders via telehealth.

Karuna operates as a non-profit with 11-50 employees and does not charge patients for its services. Its revenue model is a mix of individual donations and fundraising campaigns, memorial gifts, gifts in wills (legacy bequests), and partial funding from Queensland Health and Commonwealth government healthcare programs. Notable recent fundraising activity includes a 2026 Tax Appeal backed by a $55,000 match-giving pool from Morgans Foundation, The Hull Family Charitable Trust, and anonymous donors, later extended with a $26,000 contribution from the Dowling Family Foundation. The organisation is currently in an organisational stabilisation period, recruiting senior roles including Director of Community Services, Quality and Governance Lead, and HR and Governance Support Officer. There are no disclosed revenue figures, no technology platform, no AI/ML components, no intellectual property filings, and no M&A activity in the source material.

Name

Karuna

Legal name

Karuna Hospice Services Ltd

Website

https://karuna.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Karuna Hospice Services Ltd is a Brisbane North-based, Buddhist-principles-guided charity founded in 1992 that provides free in-home specialist palliative care, carer support, and spiritual care to patients with life-limiting illness, their families, and underserved communities across Queensland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Palliative and Hospice Care Services

NAICS

Home Health Care Services (62161), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120)

SIC

Services-Home Health Care Services (8082), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Community-Based Palliative Care (Home-Based Non-Hospice) (HLADAHAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Non-Hospice Serious-Illness / Community-Based Palliative Care (In-Home) (HSABAFAF), Palliative Care (Home-Based) Providers (HLAFAEAD), End-of-Life Emotional & Spiritual Support (Chaplaincy/Counseling) In-Home (HSABAFAH), Bereavement & Grief Support Services (Family Aftercare) (HSABAFAI)

Keywords

• Palliative care services
• In-home hospice care
• Carer support services
• Spiritual care support
• Grief bereavement support

Headquarters

HQ city

Windsor

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: The organization relies on public donations, memorial gifts, and fundraising activities. They conduct match-giving campaigns where donors can double their impact during specific periods.
2. Gifts in Will: Legacy giving through bequests in supporters' wills, allowing donors to leave lasting contributions to Karuna's mission.
3. Government-Funded Healthcare Services: As a specialist palliative care organization, services may be partially funded through Queensland Health or Commonwealth government healthcare programs.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Karuna delivers specialist community-based palliative care at no cost to patients with life-limiting illness, providing in-home nursing and clinical care, practical and emotional support for family carers, and spiritual/mindfulness care guided by Buddhist principles. It also runs facilitated peer-support programs such as Grief Peer Support: Living After Loss and educational resources (including the What About Death!? podcast) for patients, carers, and the wider community in Brisbane North, Queensland.

Product overview

Karuna is a specialist, community-based palliative care organisation offering a coordinated suite of services for people affected by life-limiting illness, loss, or grief. The core service portfolio comprises In-Home Specialist Palliative Care (delivered in patients' homes), Carer Support Services (practical and emotional assistance for family carers), and Spiritual Care/Mindfulness & Reflection (guided by Buddhist principles). Supporting these clinical services are community programs including the Grief Peer Support: Living After Loss six-session facilitated peer group, and the What About Death!? podcast providing educational content on death, dying, and bereavement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• In-Home Specialist Palliative Care Specialist community-based palliative care delivered to patients' homes across Brisbane North, providing clinical nursing care, pain and symptom management, and emotional and practical support for individuals with life-limiting illness. Provided at no cost to patients.
• Carer Support Services Practical, emotional, and educational support for family carers of patients with life-limiting illness, including guidance on caregiving, respite assistance, and bereavement resources.
• Spiritual Care Mindfulness and reflection services grounded in Buddhist principles, offering spiritual support for patients, families, and the wider community facing end-of-life issues, provided at no cost.
• Grief Peer Support: Living After Loss A six-session facilitated peer support program for bereaved carers covering grief after caregiving, identity after loss, and continuing bonds, delivered online via email registration in partnership with Wellways Carer Gateway.

Named customers2 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Wellways Carer GatewaycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 July 2026Wellways Carer Gateway is a proud delivery partner for the Grief Peer Support: Living After Loss program. This six-session facilitated peer support program supports bereaved carers in sustaining their wellbeing and finding meaning after losing a loved one. The partnership enables delivery of structured grief support to carers in the Brisbane North region.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• St Vincent's Health Australia: Major nonprofit Catholic hospital and palliative care network in Australia with publicly-funded specialist palliative services. Comparable in mission-driven delivery of palliative care, but operates acute hospitals alongside community services.
• Bolton Clarke: One of Australia's largest nonprofit in-home care and retirement living providers, with home-based palliative and clinical services across Queensland and nationally. Comparable on in-home care delivery but serves a much broader service portfolio than Karuna's palliative focus.
• Silver Chain Group: Major Australian in-home health and palliative care provider with national reach. Comparable on community-based palliative service delivery, but operates as a large multi-service organization rather than a region-focused specialist.
• Calvary Health Care: Large Catholic nonprofit health and aged care provider operating hospitals, palliative care, and home services across Australia. Comparable in faith-inspired mission and palliative offering, but with substantially larger clinical footprint and inpatient capability.

Others

• Palliative Care Queensland: State peak body for palliative care in Queensland, focused on advocacy, education, and community awareness. Comparable in mission to improve access to palliative care and in producing educational content (similar to Karuna's 'What About Death!?' podcast), though not a direct service provider.
• Brisbane North PHN (Brisbane North Primary Health Network): The local Primary Health Network that commissions and funds community-based palliative care services in Karuna's exact service region. A direct commissioning and referral counterpart, and a key funding relationship for any community palliative provider in Brisbane North.

Direct peers

• Very Special Kids: Victorian-based nonprofit providing pediatric palliative care, family support, and bereavement programs. Comparable as a specialist palliative charity with grief and family support services and a strong fundraising model, though pediatric-focused and in a different state.
• Ozcare: Large Queensland-based nonprofit providing in-home palliative care, home care, and aged care services. Most directly comparable to Karuna due to overlapping Queensland geography, in-home palliative offerings, and nonprofit funding model, though operating at significantly larger scale.
• Hummingbird House: Queensland-based children's hospice charity providing specialist palliative and respite care. Comparable as an Australian nonprofit hospice charity with a community-engagement and fundraising-driven model, though focused on pediatric rather than adult palliative care.

Regional players

• Cancer Council Queensland: Large Queensland nonprofit focused on cancer support, including end-of-life care navigation and bereavement services. Comparable in providing community-based supportive care for life-limiting illness within Queensland, but with a broader cancer-focused mandate and substantially larger scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/karunahospice
• Facebookfacebook.com/KarunaHospice
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-karuna-hospice-service-ltd
• Instagraminstagram.com/karunahospice
• Xx.com/karunahospice

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Karuna