The Kosciusko Huts Association, as its name suggests, was established to conserve the huts and homesteads in the Kosciusko National Park and the Namadgi National Park. The members of the association volunteer to work on and look after the huts with the aim of preserving them for many years to come. Most of the huts in the National Parks are open year round for public access. They are used as overnight and emergency shelters for skiers and hikers, meeting points, meal stops, activity bases or simply visits during walks.
Most huts have a visitors book to log the use of the huts.
The size and condition of a hut and the facilities it has vary greatly, depending on the size of the original hut, any supplementary construction, the huts location, age and how it has been looked after and used in the past. Some huts are simply a 2m by 2m corrugated iron shed with a fireplace, while others are four room timber and iron constructions with windows, a water tank, toilet, fireplace and verandahs. There are also one or two homesteads in the parks, which have multiple buildings and electricity. The majority of the huts were built for graziers, miners, the hydro - electric authority or fishermen. A small number were purpose built by cross country skiers and bushwalkers for the uses described above.