Gladesville Hospital Cemetery Memorial

On Tuesday 10 December 2019, the NSW Mental Health Commission held a memorial to acknowledge and remember the lives of former residents of the Gladesville Psychiatric Hospital on Victoria Road in Gladesville, NSW. The Gladesville Hospital Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 1,200 former patients and several staff. Almost all the graves are unmarked - an indication of the high level of ignorance and shame that pervaded attitudes towards those who experienced mental health issues in the past.
The historic memorial ceremony was an opportunity to offer respect to those whose remains are here in unmarked graves, as well as former residents buried elsewhere. This is also the first time many of these people have been formally recognised. We also pay respects to people who lived and died at other hospitals and institutions and those still alive today. Our community acknowledges their journeys of suffering, distress and abandonment.