Port Stephens-based Wildlife in Need of Care receives about 50 requests a week to help sick and injured animals.
With the support of other groups and agencies, the group's 61 volunteer carers do their best to respond to each request for assistance.
But the emergence of H5 bird flu has presented a new challenge for volunteer-based wildlife rescue groups.
Adding to the concern is the fact that the state's first confirmed case of bird flu was detected at Hawks Nest on July 4.
The community-based group wants the state government to follow the Western Australian government's lead and provide them with equipment and training so they can collect sick and injured birds.
"Just last week we had two pelicans and a crested tern in Marine Drive Tea Gardens that were all sick. The tern floated up dead, one of the pelicans was presenting (symptoms) and the other one died in front of everybody," Wildlife in Need of Care vice-president Danella Weatherstone said.
The birds were not collected and it is not known if they were carrying the H5 virus.
"It became a real mess because we don't have the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to go and pick up the birds and we have nowhere to take them," Ms Weatherstone said.
"We don't have anything to guide us on what to do with these birds that nobody seems to really want to come and collect."
A Department of Climate Change, Energy the Environment spokesman said the government recognised the role wildlife rehabilitators play in caring for wildlife and supporting disease surveillance.
As part of the H5 response, wildlife rehabilitators and members of the public in NSW are being encouraged to AVOID, RECORD, REPORT - avoid handling dead birds or sick birds showing symptoms, record what they see and report them through the appropriate channels such as the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.
"Leaving sick or dead birds in situ, where safe and appropriate, minimises the risk of exposure to people and reduces the risk of unintentionally spreading H5 bird flu to new areas. This is an important biosecurity measure and reduces the need to handle potentially infected animals," the spokesman said.
The Australian government leads national coordination of the H5 bird flu response with states and territories.
Newcastle Greens councillor Siobhan Isherwood last week called on the council to advocate for funding for the necessary PPE to be provided by NSW and federal governments.
"In Newcastle alone last month, Hunter Wildlife Rescue volunteers rescued 240 birds, requiring collection, transport, care, feeding and then release where possible," she said.
"Refusing to fund necessary PPE for volunteers puts people and the animals they care for at risk, and is one of the most outrageous cases of cost shifting I've seen from the NSW government yet."
"This just shows that it isn't just councils and ratepayers that are expected to bear the cost of the state shirking responsibility, but even volunteer wildlife organisations are fair game."
