In the 1980s and early 1990s there were gay hate murders in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide, but many many more in Sydney even after homosexuality was belatedly decriminalised in New South Wales in 1984.
Bashings and murders were committed over the Sydney area, but there were many at gay beats on the clifftops around Manly and the clifftop walk and parks between the famous Bondi Beach and Tamarama.
In most cases, the New South Wales police dismissed the deaths as suicides and failed to investigate them properly. The families of the murdered men spent decades trying to get the authorities to investigate properly and pressed the Coroner's Courts to reopen inquests. A book on the murders, Bondi Badlands was published by Greg Callaghan in 2007. I read Stories in the gay press.
An 18-mnnth NSW parliamentary inquiry , Gay and Transgender Hate Crimes between 1970 and 2010, reported its findings earlier this year that the NSW Police Force failed its responsibility. There is now a campaign for a full judicial inquiry.
Yesterday a podcast series Bondi Badlands, was launched.