In the line of duty: Policing Australia tells the story of Australian policing through a series of parallel timelines, highlighting significant organisational events and achievements, major investigations and key operational developments.
Exhibition website: www.inthelineofduty.com.au
Important moments in policing history are presented through images and documents from around Australia. The exhibition also includes the helmet worn by Kelly Gang member Dan Kelly in the historic shootout at Glenrowan in 1880.
Police organisations in Australia have a long history, with NSW recording its first Constable in 1788. Significant moments in Australia’s policing history are presented here in context of Australian history: first settlement, the Eureka Stockade, the capture of Ned Kelly, Federation, the Great Depression, Cyclone Tracy, the massacre at Port Arthur, Sydney Olympics 2001 and recent international peacekeeping missions.
The exhibition conveys a sense of the sacrifice of those police who have lost their lives through their commitment to duty, and by association, the general dedication of all police officers who contribute to the safe environment in which we live. As police are often present during or after the traumatic and disastrous events which have taken place over the decades, such as the Thredbo landslide or Bali bombings, the hazardous and difficult nature of the work of police is also a key element of the exhibition.
This exhibition was held in conjunction with the dedication of the Police Memorial in King’s Park, 29 September, 2006.