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About Heritage NSW Blue Plaques

The Blue Plaques program brings to life the extraordinary people and events that shaped the history of NSW. It is designed for people to learn about the history of their local region by discovering the events that happened and the people that lived, worked, or gathered there.

Blue Plaques are nominated by the people of NSW. This ensures that the program celebrates a wide range of people - from local heroes to innovators in a particular field, and even global celebrities who have left their mark on our state.

35 Blue Plaques have been announced

35 Blue Plaques have been announced since the program began in June 2021, including those of pioneering female aviator Nancy Bird Walton, Dr Charles Perkins who dedicated his life to civil rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and Hawaiian surfer Duke Kahanamoku who helped popularise surfing in NSW.

Many Blue Plaques have already been installed around the state including in Broken Hill, Hay, Port Macquarie and Wagga Wagga. On 13 November 2022, Heritage Minister James Griffin MP announced 14 Blue Plaques which will be installed throughout 2023.

Recently Announced Blue Plaques

SubjectRecognition

1965 Freedom Ride

Protest tour highlighting racial discrimination against Aboriginal people

Albert (Tibby) Cotter

International test cricketer and soldier

Arthur Malcolm Stace

Chalk writer known as ‘Mr Eternity’

Billy Hughes

Seventh Prime Minister of Australia known for representing Australia at the Treaty of Versailles and establishing the Federal Police Force and the CSIRO.

Chips Rafferty

Australian film actor

Daniel Gowing

Prominent early developer in Bega and Tathra

Dorothea Mackellar

Australian poet and author of ‘My Country’

Grace Cossington Smith

Australian artist and pioneer of modernist painting

Margaret Catchpole

Female convict chronicler

Mei Quong Tart

Philanthropist, merchant, and Chinese-Australian community leader

Thomas Fiaschi

Pioneering surgeon

William and Ian Clunies Ross

Science educator and his son, the first Chair of the CSIRO

WW1 Valentine Day Soldier Riots

1916 soldier riots protesting conditions at military training bases in Liverpool

Patrick White

Australian novelist

These are in addition to the 21 plaques already announced earlier in 2021 and 2022. Browse the stories behind the first 21 plaques on this website.

Public nominations

Over 750 nominations were received in 2021 from community members, organisation and local councils.

A second public nominations round was open in late 2022 with successful nominations to be announced mid 2023.

Find out more about the nominations process.

More information

The Blue Plaques program is part of a $5 million heritage engagement program funded by the NSW Government, announced in June 2021. Heritage NSW administers this program.

If you have any enquiries, please contact us at heritagemailbox@environment.nsw.gov.au