Birdsville Courthouse Officially Opens to Celebrate Policing History

Published on 17 September 2026

Wangkangurru Yarluyandi Country

Birdsville will celebrate more than a century of policing, community life and outback history this week as Diamantina Shire Council opens the Birdsville Courthouse, Police Complex and Aboriginal Tracker’s Hut Museum.

The two-day celebration begins today, Thursday 17 September, with a community welcome and exhibition opening at the Wirrarri Visitor Information Centre, followed by the official opening of the heritage precinct tomorrow morning. All are invited to join the celebrations and mark this important occasion.

The occasion recognises Birdsville’s policing history from 1884 to 1988 and formally acknowledges the transfer of the historic precinct from the Queensland Police Service to Diamantina Shire Council on behalf of the Birdsville community.

For more than a century, the Courthouse and Police Complex played a central role in law enforcement in Birdsville’s remote far southwest.

When policing operations moved to a modern facility in 1988, that extraordinary chapter in Birdsville’s history ended.

The precinct entered the Queensland Heritage Register in 1993. Diamantina Shire Council became custodian of the site in 2008, before the State Government formally transferred the property to Council in 2021.

Following a period of restoration, the heritage-listed Courthouse, Police Complex and Aboriginal Tracker’s Hut opened to the public as an interactive museum experience in 2025. New installations include insight and stories from past residents and community members.

Diamantina Shire Mayor Francis Murray said the precinct provided a unique connection to the earliest chapters of Birdsville’s story.

“This site has been a witness to over a hundred years of history, from the beginning of the pastoral industry and freight brought up the Birdsville Track by camels, to the introduction of electricity and aeroplanes,” said Mayor Murray.

“It captures in one place the earliest days of Birdsville and its people. We consider ourselves lucky to have this heritage-listed site and to share it with people from all over Australia and the world.”

The celebrations begin at 5:00pm on Thursday, 17 September at the Wirrarri Visitor Information Centre, where people who represented the community as elected members of Diamantina Shire Council, along with those who lived in Birdsville while the site operated as a police station, will share reflections on policing and community life.

The evening will also feature Birdsville – The Black Book, an exhibition inspired by Frances Gage McGinn’s 1977 publication Birdsville.

The official opening ceremony will take place at 9:30am on Friday, 18 September, at the Birdsville Courthouse Museum in McDonald Street. Assistant Commissioner Kevin Guteridge, with the Queensland Police Service, will speak on behalf of Acting Commissioner Brett Pointing APM as part of the formal handover from the Queensland Police Service to the Diamantina Shire Council, on behalf of the Birdsville Community.

New timeline signage has also been installed within the precinct, helping visitors explore the Courthouse, Police Complex and the people connected to them throughout Birdsville’s history.

Council invites current and former residents, police officers, descendants of those connected to the precinct, visitors, and anyone interested in Birdsville’s history to join the celebrations and attend these special events.

The opening is an important milestone in preserving the precinct for future generations and establishing it as a heritage, tourism and education experience for Birdsville and the wider Diamantina.

Photo: Birdsville Courthouse in the 1950s shared courtesy of Maria Sammon Wheeler.