Justice & Police Museum
Historic Sydney’s home of crime and policing
Step into Sydney’s dark side. Crooks and cops, locals and drifters, the guilty and the innocent have all left their stories here. Originally a police station and courts, the museum draws you into a world of crime, policing and punishment, from bushrangers and razor gangs to the future of forensics. In a city that’s grown out from the harbour, the waterfront has always been a place of misadventure and misdemeanour.
On display
Alexander Riley, legendary Aboriginal police tracker
The remarkable talents of Aboriginal trackers who worked for NSW Police in the 20th century are featured in a display at the Justice & Police Museum
Justice & Police Museum
Gadigal Country
Corner Albert and Phillip streets, Sydney NSW 2000- Wheelchair accessible
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Learning programs
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A Trial Run
Within the setting of a historic police station and courthouse, this program gives students the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the interrelationships between the law and society
Bailed Up!
Students explore the impact of the gold rush on law and order in the colony of NSW, and of bushrangers on the Australian identity
Crime & Punishment: A Case Study
This challenging and thought-provoking program develops students’ skills in historical research and critical thinking, and their appreciation of history as a study of human experience
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Museum stories
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If these walls could talk: Justice & Police Museum
The Justice & Police Museum houses the Water Police Station, Water Police Court and Police Court that once made up one of the city’s busiest legal hubs. Crooks and cops, thugs and judges, locals and drifters – the guilty and the innocent have all left their stories here
Underworld Blog
Descend into Sydney’s seedy underworld with our blog. Discover exclusive stories, never-before-seen images, and behind-the-scenes insights
Dodgy, dangerous, disturbing
3D models: a fascinating exploration of some seemingly innocent objects modified for nefarious purposes from the Justice & Police Museum collection
‘Well have we loved’
Awaiting execution at Darlinghurst Gaol in 1880, bushranger Captain Moonlite wrote moving letters describing his feelings for fellow gang member Jim Nesbitt
Groundbreaking crimes from the archives
Within the sandstone walls of the Justice & Police Museum are countless stories of crime, courage and justice – some famous, many forgotten
From Water Police Office to museum
The complex that now houses the Justice & Police Museum was once one of the colony’s busiest legal hubs, with a daily parade of offenders – and the odd goat. Additions and improvements mark the evolution of the site’s function as courts and police station
Flat out access: unfolding the parchment pardon of Samuel Henry Horne
The conservators at the Western Sydney Records Centre treat items from across Museums of History NSW collections. A recent example is the 1832 absolute pardon of convict Samuel Henry Horne
Women police in NSW: a history of firsts
A collection of photographs at the Justice & Police Museum document the hard-won firsts, beginning in 1915, that led to women attaining equal status within the NSW Police Force
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Annual Giving: Interpreting our Past
For the first time in more than two decades, the Justice & Police Museum is embarking on a bold transformation that reimagines how stories of justice, crime and community are told
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