All sides of the law

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.

Corner Albert and Phillip streets, Sydney NSW 2000. Phone +61 2 9252 1144

Justice & Police Museum

Corner Albert and Phillip streets, Sydney NSW 2000. Phone +61 2 9252 1144
  • Wheelchair accessible
Plan your visit

Display

Sergeant Tracker Alexander ‘Alec’ Riley, standing in police uniform
Permanent 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

Stories

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Black and white image of a sandstone building. A man can be seen in the foreground.
Museum stories

Gritty business

Immerse yourself in Sydney's chilling criminal past in this unique water-front museum of policing, law and disorder – with its grizzly collection of underworld weapons along with tales of mayhem and lawlessness, aptly described as an educational resource befitting a 'professor in crime'

Dual mugshot in black and white; man seated and then man standing, with white naval cap on.
WW1

A dubious defence

On 19 October 1921 Herbert Burridge was listed in the New South Wales Police Gazette as a deserter from HMAS Cerberus

Dark haired woman wearing a red dress and black blazer leaning on a wooden door frame

A life in crime

Curator Nerida Campbell has got the dream job – rummaging through the grit and grime of Sydney’s criminal past to help us to come to terms with the city’s dark side

Sergeant Tracker Alexander ‘Alec’ Riley wearing his police uniform

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

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Underworld

Behind the scenes: How to read a ‘special’

Around the world, police forces followed established conventions when taking mugshots. But Sydney police in the 1920s did things differently

Learning programs

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View of pigeonholes in the the police station charge room.
Onsite

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

Onsite

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

Linda Agostini on Coogee Beach, Sydney
Onsite

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

Annual Giving 2023–24: engaging with history

Supporting children to discover history

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