Surry Hills Police Area Command

The Surry Hills Police Area Command (PAC) is the policing jurisdiction covering Surry Hills, Darlinghurst, and the Oxford Street precinct — the geographic heart of Sydney’s gay and transgender community throughout the period documented by this project (1970s–2000s). The PAC headquarters is Surry Hills Police Station on Goulburn Street.

Historical significance for LGBTIQ policing:

Surry Hills PAC sits at the intersection of two histories: it is both the policing jurisdiction most associated with gay and transgender hate crimes in the inner city, and — according to ACON’s In Pursuit of Truth and Justice (2018) — “probably the most supportive” of NSW police commands in responding to reports of anti-gay violence. ACON and Garry Wotherspoon’s historical analysis note that the quality of investigation was heavily dependent on the individual station and officer; “Surry Hills station was probably the most supportive, [while] others, like those suburban ones in whose areas the beats were, were much less so” (Wotherspoon 2017, cited in ACON 2018, p. 20).

The Oxford Street and Flinders Street area — within Surry Hills PAC’s jurisdiction — was the site of a special taskforce established by the police in the early 1990s to address the escalating violence in the precinct. This followed the community’s establishment of the Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project and Dykes on Bikes street patrols in the same area, after the police response was deemed inadequate.

The Surry Hills command is also the jurisdiction in which much of the documented gay social space violence occurred — attacks on men leaving bars and venues in the Oxford Street precinct — and in which many of the original gay hate crime reports were received, investigated, and in many cases inadequately pursued.

Contemporary events:

In October 2025, a mural titled Queer Sydney: A History by artist Jeremy Smith was hung on an office wall at Surry Hills Police Station, metres from Oxford Street. The work depicted LGBTQ+ identities including Magda Szubanski, Courtney Act, and former High Court judge Michael Kirby, and referenced the first Mardi Gras, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and same-sex marriage. It also featured the phrase “Stop police attacks on gays, women and blacks” and the term “Sodom of the south” — a reference documented by historian Garry Wotherspoon. Days after it went up, an officer complained and NSW Police removed it. NSW Police would not give a reason, stating only: “we need to ensure all officers are able to work in a professional and inclusive office.” Smith described the work as “a love letter to queer Sydney” and said he hoped it would “build bridges.”

In June 2026, police conducted drug raids on Oxford Street gay venues — Universal, Kinselas, and Palms — within or near Surry Hills PAC’s jurisdiction, during Pride Month. Sydney MP Alex Greenwich and Lord Mayor Clover Moore filed a complaint with the LECC; historian and 78er Garry Wotherspoon resigned from the NSW Police LGBTQIA+ Consultative Committee in response, saying the raids sent a “chill.” The LECC compelled Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon to investigate.

Police stations in this PAC (current):

Station	Address	Phone	Hours
Surry Hills (PAC HQ)	Level 3, Sydney Police Centre, 151-241 Goulburn Street, Surry Hills 2010	02 9265 4144	24 hours

Suburbs covered: Centennial Park, Darlinghurst, Moore Park, Paddington, Surry Hills, Sydney 2000.

Address and station data sourced from NSW Police Force website (accessed 18 July 2026). Jurisdictional information also from NSW Police Force operational structure documentation and Wikipedia: New South Wales Police Force.