NSW Premier Announces Old Darlinghurst Police Station Will House New Sydney LGBT Museum

NSW’s new Labor government on Wednesday announced a permanent home for Sydney’s LGBTQI museum, Qtopia – the former Darlinghurst police station.

The site of the old Darlinghurst Police Station on Forbes and Bourke Streets has an important place in the city’s queer history. The police station was once associated with the harassment and persecution of Sydney’s LGBTQI community, including 78ers.

NSW Premier Chris Minns posted a photograph of himself outside the old police station along with former NRL star and Qtopia board member Ian Roberts. “A year ago, Ian Roberts came to me with an idea – to create Australia’s first Pride museum,” Minns posted on Twitter.

“Now we’re getting on and delivering it. Turning a page on the Old Darlinghurst Police Station’s story, where LGBTQ+ 78ers were held and beaten. And writing into it a new chapter,” the Premier added. 

Update: First Mardi Gras Inc., a community association for 78ers, welcomed the announcement. “First Mardi Gras Inc. congratulates the NSW Government on their funding of the Qtopia Museum. We look forward to it being established in the old Darlinghurst Police Station to serve both the Sydney and the wider Australian LGBTIQA+ community,” the association said in a statement provided to Star Observer. 

“It will be important that this is done as an inclusive and accountable process in full consultation with community representatives and in particular in consultation with our community historians.”

Election Promise Fulfilled

In February 2023, the former Dominic Perrottet government added the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade route on Oxford Street and the Darlinghurst police station to the NSW State Heritage Register. 

Before the state elections, both NSW Liberals and Labor promised that if elected they would permanently house  QTOPIA at the former Darlinghurst Police Station. NSW Labor announced that they would invest $3.85 million towards the project.

“Repurposing the former police station for the Qtopia Sydney museum will memorialise the past struggles and achievements of the LGBTQIA+ community in an honest way, while also being a place of respect and inclusion for all,” NSW Labor said in their pre-election policy document.

The plan, outlined in the document, envisaged the NSW Government and Create NSW retaining the site, with QTOPIA taking possession and carrying out refurbishments “to enable the site to host permanent and temporary exhibitions that explore and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community.”

Exorcism Of the Old Police Station

The now-closed Darlinghurst Police Station was where  LGBTQI activists, including 78ers, who protested On Oxford Street, were taken after their arrests. The police station was closed down in 1986. 

According to Dr Christopher Neff, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy, University of Sydney, the closure of the police station “included an exorcism of the building by the Sisters of the Perpetual Indulgence.”

Out gay Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich welcomed the Premier’s announcement. “It’s great to see the new Labor Government delivering on their commitments to the LGBTQIA+ community,” Greenwich told Star Observer. 

A year ago, Ian Roberts came to me with an idea – to create Australia's first pride museum.

Now we're getting on and delivering it.

Turning a page on the Old Darlinghurst Police Station's story, where LGBTQ+ 78ers were held and beaten.

And writing into it a new chapter. pic.twitter.com/2ot1UVqzjn

— Chris Minns (@ChrisMinnsMP) April 18, 2023

“In my first meeting with Premier Minns, I raised a number of important LGBTQIA+ law reforms that will be covered in my forthcoming Equality and I look forward to working with his government to progress those in this term,” said Greenwich. 

Qtopia opened on February 17, 2023, ahead of Sydney WorldPride, with exhibitions at its two temporary venues – the Green Park Bandstand and the Red Room at the National Art School.