"The government’s admission ... is a far cry from the Minister’s fanfare when he announced the funding," she said.

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"Half of this wildlife carer fund has already been pocketed by the government itself, and not to support wildlife carers, but to pay for separate programs that the Minister claimed were already funded," Ms Washington said.

"The government is still sitting on the remaining $300,000 earmarked for wildlife carers, but now the Minister is saying it’ll be spent on ‘asset replacement’, not wildlife carers," she added.

A spokesman for Mr Kean said half a million dollars had gone to the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife for" initial bushfire emergency assistance", to replace destroyed or dilapidated assets and "to ensure the sector is co-ordinated, focused and equipped to do the job the best [it] can".

"The remaining $500,000 has been allocated to support the wildlife rehabilitation sector through the Koala Habitat Information Base project to identify burnt areas where koalas may have sought refuge, or can be returned to the wild post-bushfire," he said, adding the money paid for two new Wildlife Co-ordinator positions.

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The November announcement was also part of a larger package exceeding $6.5 million the government had provided to support wildlife, he said.

'These actions all help to continue our work with the wildlife rehabilitation sector, not just during emergencies but through the long road ahead as our wildlife recover from an unprecedented disaster," he said.

The historic bushfire season scorched 5.5 million hectares in NSW alone, killing more than 1 billion animals, academics have estimated.