Pride Centre
Council recognises and values the community of the Inner West who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other diverse sexual orientations and genders and those with innate variations in sex characteristics, often referred to as intersex.
Twenty10 to lead Inner West's Pride Centre
Inner West Council is delighted to announce that Twenty10 will lead the operation of Council’s new Inner West Pride Centre.
Council is thrilled to partner with this iconic LGBTIQA+ organisation, which has been providing life-saving youth and counselling services to our community for over 40 years.
Tweny10 was selected to manage Pride Centre programs and operations following a rigorous Expression of Interest process, which saw applications received from a number of high calibre community organisations.
Twenty10’s vision for the Centre is a safe, accessible hub for connection, care, creativity, and collaboration for LGBTIQA+ communities.
In addition to running their own core programs, Twenty10 will bring the Pride Centre to life through partnerships with other grassroots LGBTIQA+ organisations, groups and communities. They are also planning further community consultation and collaboration with Inner West Council to help inform future programming and events
Internal remediation works are currently underway by Council at the Newtown Town Hall site, to ensure a fresh and welcoming building is available for the community. The Pride Centre will open its doors later in 2024.
Pride Centre purpose
Following extensive community consultation by Inner West Council over a number of years, the Inner West Pride Centre is intended to:
- Provide a safe, welcoming, and inclusive space for the LGBTQ+ community
- Address social isolation of all risk groups within the LGTBQ+ community by providing a safe, accessible space to connect, gather, and support
- Where appropriate, provide access to services and programs (with particular emphasis on services and programs responsive to the Inner West LGBTQ+ community)
- Support capacity building within the community
Background
In 2018 Council investigated hosting a Pride Centre in the Inner West and consulted with the community. View the Visioning a Pride Centre Engagement Report here (DOCX 2.5MB).
The community was invited to help create a vision for the Pride Centre. The community engagement has canvassed a diverse range of issues and themes focusing on
87% of respondents to the Pride Centre survey said it was very or extremely important to have a Pride Centre in the Inner West.
Newtown Town Hall was identified as a prime location for the Pride Centre that aligned with the community vision.
In 2023, Inner West Council invited Expressions of Interest from suitable organisations or consortia for the management/operation of the Inner West Pride Centre at Newtown. The outcome of this EOI process was announced in December 2023, with the appointment of Twenty10.
Newtown Town Hall
Newtown Town Hall is a two story, heritage building located in Pride Square (formerly Newtown Square) in the heart of Newtown. The building is currently undergoing significant, complex remedial work and will be closed while it is transformed into the Pride Centre. Newtown Neighbourhood Centre is now located at its new purpose built premises at 11-13 Darley Street, Newtown. More information here.
Should you have any questions, please contact Scott Mullen, who is leading this work, on scott.mullen@innerwest.nsw.gov.au or 9392 5741.