Hoya australis is a succulent climbing vine to subshrub that typically reaches a height of 4–10 m (13–33 ft).

Flowering time depends on subspecies, and the fruit is a spindle-shaped follicle 90–130 mm (3.5–5.1 in) long.

Subspecies australis occurs in eastern Australia from the Torres Strait in northern Queensland to Dorrigo in New South Wales.

rupicola occurs in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and the Top End of the Northern Territory on sandstone outcrops and cliffs.

sanae grows in foreshore vine thickets on Cape York Peninsula and some offshore islands and subsp.

tenuipes is found on the southern Cape York Peninsula, as far south as Innisfail, and in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Melanesia.