Developing a future community vision for Victoria Barracks
Victoria Barracks is a 15-hectare heritage site on Oxford Street, Paddington, close to Moore Park, Allianz Stadium and the Sydney Cricket Ground. While it sits in the heart of one of Sydney’s most densely populated neighbourhoods, public access is currently limited, with a pedestrian entry on Oxford Street near Paddington Town Hall and Library. Vehicular access is through the main gate located on Moore Park Road.
The Victoria Barracks site was listed on the Commonwealth Heritage List in 2004. It is protected under the Environmental and Biodiversity Conservation (EBPC) Act and listed on the Commonwealth Heritage List and the Register of the National Estate. The Commonwealth listings provide very important protections for its heritage values, but allow appropriate Defence site use and development.
In 2023, the federal government conducted a nationwide audit of Australian Defence Force (ADF) land, including Victoria Barracks. The audit examined whether these sites continue to meet military requirements. The findings have not yet been released, leaving the future of the Paddington site uncertain.
Should Victoria Barracks become available for broader community use, the City of Sydney asked residents to help shape a long-term vision for the precinct. Council believes the site has potential to deliver much-needed community benefits from housing and green open space in addition to to cultural facilities and other public uses while also ensuring the protection of its nationally significant heritage.
A major challenge for any future use will be how to secure sustainable funding for the ongoing care of its historic sandstone buildings and grounds. The CoS notes this may require government support as well as carefully considered commercial uses that respect the site’s character.
In September 2025, The Paddington Society, lodged a submission to the CoS. The Society believes that the best heritage outcome for the site would be to retain ADF ownership and ongoing usage, with the option of allowing more community access to its green spaces, museum etc, without compromise to defence activities and security on the site.
Read The Paddington Society’s Submission.
Today, Victoria Barracks is still an active Defence establishment, home to Headquarters Forces Command. Its sandstone walls and parade grounds continue to serve the military, while also standing as a powerful, living symbol of Australia’s defence heritage. For visitors and passers-by, it offers a rare and tangible link to Sydney’s colonial past, the transition to nationhood, and over a century and a half of continuous military service.
Victoria Barracks has many features that support the retention of the barracks in its current form including:
- high heritage significance, the whole site, including buildings, landscape, gardens and perimeter walls
- large numbers of significant green open spaces and superb buildings, all reRlecting its military history
- the site has been a military place for 185 years in a city that is only 230 years old
- strategically located on a prominent ridge, it was the catalyst for the development of Paddington
- the low scale buildings relate harmoniously and match those of Paddington to north, east and west
- it maintains strong townscape connections with surrounding colonial-era and Victorian precincts
- large numbers of significant buildings from colonial & Federation periods are immaculately conserved
- historic large open spaces, landscapes host to diverse native species, gardens, symbolic plantings,
memorials and structures, including Busby’s Bore, are strategically located throughout the whole site - the site has only very small areas of land that could be used for appropriately low scaled development
If you are concerned about future potential plans for Victoria Barracks on Oxford Street the consultation period is now closed for evaluation and review. More information or contact City of Sydney Council at sydneyyoursay@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
About Victoria Barracks – Paddington, NSW
Victoria Barracks in Paddington stands on the traditional lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, whose enduring connection to Country continues to this day. Perched on a high ridgeline that was once shaped by sand dunes and rocky outcrops, the site commands sweeping views across Sydney, a strategic location that made it ideal for military use.
For over 175 years, Victoria Barracks has been a cornerstone of Sydney’s military story. It is widely regarded as one of the most significant and best-preserved examples of a colonial-era military barracks in Australia, and one of the finest across the former British Empire. Its scale, craftsmanship, and setting give it both historical and architectural importance.
The barracks were built to replace cramped and deteriorating military facilities in George Street, which were increasingly unsuitable as Sydney’s population expanded and commercial development intensified. Lieutenant Colonel George Barney, the colony’s Commanding Royal Engineer, designed the complex in the British military style of the period, with adaptations for local conditions.
Construction began in 1841 on what was then a relatively isolated stretch of South Head Road (now Oxford Street). The work was carried out using a combination of skilled tradespeople and convict labour. Locally quarried sandstone gave the barracks their distinctive warm-hued walls. Lime for mortar and cement was produced from burnt seashells gathered along the shores of Rushcutters Bay.
The complex originally included the imposing main barracks building, parade ground, officers’ quarters, guardhouse, and storehouses, all designed for durability and defence. British troops were stationed at Victoria Barracks until 1870, when responsibility for the site passed to the New South Wales Artillery. With Federation in 1901, the site took on a new role as a key centre for Australian military operations, hosting training, administration, and strategic planning. Over the decades, additional buildings and facilities were added to meet evolving defence needs, but many original structures remain intact.
In November 2024 The City of Sydney voted to Establish Guiding Principles for the Potential Public Land Divestment of Victoria Barracks.
