A prominent Sydney lawyer is urging the NSW government to rename the Downing Centre courthouse, citing its namesake’s role in the historical persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals.
Nicholas Stewart, a partner at LGBTQIA+ law firm Dowson Turco Lawyers*, argues that the court complex – situated at the corner of Elizabeth and Liverpool streets in Sydney’s CBD – should no longer honour former NSW attorney-general Reg Downing.
Downing, who served from 1956 to 1965, championed laws that criminalised homosexuality and led to the imprisonment of gay men.
Stewart has written to NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley to request a meeting about the issue and plans to engage other parliamentarians to gain broader support.
A spokesperson for the attorney-general told Gay Sydney News the NSW government “currently has no plans to change the name of the Downing Centre”.
Stewart responded that he understood there were “no plans because this is the first time someone has formally asked the government about renaming the building”.
“I look forward to working with members of the NSW Parliament on moving to a name that does not associate the building with former Minister Downing,” he said.
“My concern is that we have a court precinct…named after an historical minister in a very different society who held homophobic prejudices and sought to use his position to imprison gay men because of their homosexuality,” Stewart added.
“It just kind of concerns me that this building still exists under its current name, and we’ve just gone through a truth-telling exercise trying to investigate the dark murders of members of our community.”
The truth-telling exercise relates to the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTQ+ hate crimes in NSW, a landmark investigation established in 2022 to examine historical attacks – some fatal – against LGBTQ+ people.
The inquiry, led by Supreme Court Justice John Sackar, delved into decades of unresolved crimes, many of which were either ignored or inadequately investigated by police. It was part of a broader effort to formally acknowledge past injustices and institutional failures that allowed homophobic violence to occur unchecked.
Stewart is no stranger to legal advocacy on LGBTQ+ issues. He represents independent MP Alex Greenwich, who won his defamation case against then-One Nation NSW leader Mark Latham, after Latham made offensive remarks about Greenwich’s sexuality.
The case resulted in an apology and damages settlement, and reinforced legal protections against defaming members of the LGBTQ+ community by causing them to be the subject of hatred, ridicule or contempt by suggesting their sexuality means they engage in disgusting sexual acts. Latham is appealing the judgment and Greenwich is cross-appealing.
Stewart also represented four gay police officers in a successful discrimination claim against NSW Police six years ago.
The Downing Centre, originally built as Mark Foy’s department store in 1908, was converted into a courthouse in 1985 and named after Downing in 1991. It houses both Local and District Courts and is one of the busiest legal precincts in the state.
Stewart’s push to rename the building is supported by historical research from journalist Gary Nunn and the podcast The Greatest Menace by Patrick Abboud.
Their work highlights the use of Cooma Gaol – now known as Cooma Correctional Centre – which operated from 1957 to 1984 as a prison that specifically held men convicted of homosexual acts. For decades, gay men, trans women, and non-binary people were incarcerated there for the crime of homosexuality, which remained illegal in NSW until it was decriminalised in 1984.
Stewart says the facility effectively branded them as sex offenders and further stigmatised the LGBTQ+ community.
“Cooma jail was exclusively a jail for gay men who were sent there purely because of their homosexuality … and it also housed sex offenders,” Stewart explained. “In other words, we were stigmatised as being of a kind of category of a sex offender.”
“I just think a name change is something that our society needs,” he said. “It would just make my own workplace a safer workplace. It’s hard knowing its namesake history and then having to walk into that building every day.”
Reg Downing was someone “who should not be celebrated”, Stewart said.
The campaign to change the building’s name echoes wider efforts to address the legacy of systemic discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in Australia. In March this year, Cooma Gaol was added to the NSW State Heritage Register to acknowledge its role in this dark chapter of legal history.
As awareness of these injustices grows, Stewart hopes renaming the Downing Centre will serve as a meaningful step in aligning public institutions with values of inclusion and respect.
*Editor’s note: Dowson Turco Lawyers provides Gay Sydney News with legal advice.
Gay Sydney News editor