The Australian Memorial, on the site of what was a prisoner-of-war camp now in Taman Rimba, off Labuk Road, commemorates allied soldiers who lost their lives during the Japanese occupation. Some 2400 men, most of them Australian, left this camp on the infamous 'death march' towards the end of the war, only six of them survived to reach Ranau, near Mount Kinabalu, a year later.

Initially, the Returned and Services League of Australia developed Sandakan Memorial Park on land set aside by Sabah State Forestry Department for this commemorative purpose. In 1996 funding was allocated by the Australian Government towards improvement of the park as an educative and commemorative site. In 1998 the OAWG, on behalf of the Federal Government, commenced work upgrading the park to meet this objective.

The opening ceremony of the newly developed Sandakan Memorial Park and dedication of the Memorial Obelisk took place on March 18, 1999. Until today, the Sandakan Memorial Park has received more than 15,800 visitors since it’s opening in March 1999. 60 per cent of these visitors came from Australia and the United Kingdom while the remaining 40 per cent came from Malaysia.