Moreton Hire’s COVID19 Response

Supporting Australia’s COVID-19 Response Through Rapid Infrastructure Delivery

How modular infrastructure helped establish vaccination and testing facilities across Australia during the pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Moreton Hire redirected its infrastructure capability to support Australia’s emergency health response. As the events and exhibitions industry came to an abrupt halt, the business rapidly pivoted its inventory, project teams and logistics capability to deliver temporary medical infrastructure across the country.

Drawing on decades of experience building complex environments for major events and projects, Moreton Hire worked with government and healthcare partners to establish vaccination hubs, drive-through testing sites and clinical support spaces in a wide range of locations.

Spaces typically used for exhibitions, events and public gatherings — including convention centres, carparks, warehouses and showgrounds — were rapidly converted into operational healthcare environments capable of supporting patient assessment, vaccination and large-scale public throughput.

One of the most significant components of this response was the rapid deployment of drive-through COVID-19 testing infrastructure. By enabling testing to occur outside traditional clinical settings, these facilities helped relieve pressure on hospitals and general practices while allowing health authorities to scale testing capacity quickly during outbreak periods.

In parallel, Moreton Hire supported the rollout of large-scale vaccination facilities across Australia. In Victoria, installations were delivered at locations including Melbourne Airport, Sunshine Hospital and the Royal Exhibition Building. These sites were designed and constructed to support clinical workflows and included temporary cubicles, hospital-grade flooring, lighting and electrical distribution, furniture, plumbing, HVAC systems, signage and crowd-management infrastructure.

Across Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, the company delivered vaccination hubs and testing infrastructure in both metropolitan and regional settings, often under compressed timelines and challenging operating conditions.

By repurposing infrastructure systems originally developed for major events — including marquees, modular walling and large-scale venue fit-outs — Moreton Hire was able to deploy temporary healthcare environments quickly and reliably. This capability allowed the business to continue supporting communities during a period when public gatherings and events had largely ceased.

Key Projects Included

• Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre — vaccination hub delivered within 24 hours
• Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre — large-scale vaccination infrastructure
• Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre — mass vaccination hub delivery
• Sunshine West Warehouse, Melbourne — over 4,000 logistics workers vaccinated
• South Bank Vaccination Hub — designed for up to 3,000 vaccinations per day
• Regional Drive-Through Clinic — rapid deployment testing and vaccination infrastructure in locations including Dubbo and Rockhampton

Delivery Capabilities

During the COVID-19 response, Moreton Hire deployed a range of infrastructure capabilities typically used in major events and exhibitions to support healthcare environments.

These capabilities included:

• Rapid mobilisation — infrastructure often deployed within 24–48 hours to support urgent healthcare needs
• Modular clinical environments — installation of temporary cubicles, partition walling and treatment spaces designed to support patient flow and infection control
• Integrated infrastructure delivery — provision of flooring, lighting, electrical distribution, plumbing, HVAC systems, signage and furniture
• Large-venue conversions — transformation of convention centres, warehouses and public venues into operational vaccination facilities
• National logistics capability — coordination of inventory, equipment and teams across multiple states during periods of high demand

The experience reinforced Moreton Hire’s ability to rapidly deliver complex infrastructure in challenging conditions — supporting government, healthcare partners and communities when it mattered most.