A review of 88 suspicious deaths has revealed 27 gay men lost their lives to homophobic killers during a violent and dark period of Sydney's history – and the NSW Police Force is considering issuing a formal apology to the victims.
Police released the findings of Strikeforce Parrabell on Wednesday, which found eight deaths between 1976 and 2000 were the result of gay-hate crimes
A further 19 men are suspected to have died in similarly brutal attacks while another 25 could not be ruled out, Parrabell concluded.
Five of the suspected gay hate killings remain unsolved and 23 of the 88 cases are now back with the unsolved homicide unit.
Scott Johnson was found dead on the rocks below the North Head in Manly 1988. Source: AAP
From the 1970s gay men were found slain in parks, homes or washed onto sharp rocks below Sydney's secluded gay beats.
The city's budding LGBTQI+ community was being targeted while much of the community looked away.
The violence reached a bloody crescendo in the late 1980s and early 1990s fuelled by a "moral panic" triggered by the HIV epidemic.
Twelve recommendations have been made by NSW Police to improve how the force investigates potential gay-hate crimes, but a peak LGBTQI+ body questions if reforms go far enough.
"We accept that there were mistakes made. We accept there are improvements required. We accept that we can learn from the past and we can do better," Assistant Commissioner Tony Crandell told reporters in Sydney at the official release of the findings.
"We believe that the community expectation of police today and always is to conduct thorough investigations when it comes to the death of somebody, whether that be from a family or community perspective, and we must live up to that standard.
"Please understand that Strike Force Parabell is not a comment upon the level of violence or hatred or motivations against the LGBTQI+ or gay-lesbian community in the '70s, '80s, '90s," Asst Com Crandell said.
Up to 20 assaults took place each day but unsympathetic elements of the police and judiciary meant most attacks were never reported or investigated.
Strike Force Parrabell's goal was to "do all that is possible" to heal the rift that grew between police and the LGBTIQ community in those decades.
A team of police investigators and independent academics from Flinders University looked at whether attackers had shown evidence of gay-hate motivation.
They reached different conclusions in some cases but agreed eight deaths were the result of gay hate.
All eight have been solved - the killers were charged and convicted.
A further 19 deaths are suspected of gay hate crimes and five of those remain unsolved.
Among them was 25-year-old newsreader Ross Warren whose keys were found at the base of a cliff at a Tamarama gay beat in 1989.
His body was never found but homophobic youths were known to be launching attacks on gay men in the area to assert masculinity or as a gang initiation.
Ross Warren, a 25-year-old television newsreader with WIN Wollongong who went missing near Marks Park at Tamarama in Sydney in July 1989. Source: NSW POLICE MEDIA
The deputy state coroner, in 2005, ruled Mr Warren was a homicide victim.
Scott Johnson, who was found dead on the rocks below North Head's gay beat in 1988, is also a suspected victim.
His death, like many others, was ruled a suicide by an early inquest.
But Parrabell, like the latest coronial ruling in 2017, saw enough evidence to rule homophobic attackers may have thrown or chased him off the cliff.
Only 34 cases had no evidence of bias while the remaining 25 had insufficient evidence for classification - but could not be ruled out.
The churches, state and medical world classified homosexuality as a sin, crime, and disease respectively during much of this period.
HIV support organisation ACON welcomed Parrabell's findings, but the group's CEO Nicolas Parkhill said the recommendations essentially reinforce existing policies, and he called for police to bolster the Bias Crimes Unit to protect the LGBTIQ community.
Mr Parkhill wants a broader independent review into the criminal justice system's handling of the under-siege community in the violent decades.
"Concerns have been raised in the past about whether the police can objectively review themselves and their practices," he said.
Asst Com Tony Crandell vowed to never let history repeat itself.
NSW Police, on Wednesday, acknowledged it had been no better - but wanted to move forward.
It's important NSW Police acknowledge its part in history," Assistant Commissioner Tony Crandell told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.
"If you fail to have a thorough investigation in even one death it affects them all."
Parrabell stopped short of taking up ACON's recommendation of an apology - but Mr Parkhill reignited the call.
"This would send a positive sign to any same-sex attracted couple who are still too frightened to hold hands in many places around the state for fear of violence," he said.
AAP understands police leadership will consider an apology.
