Sydney hosts one of the oldest living cultures in the world with Aboriginal Australians arriving over 50,000 years before Europeans arrived in Australia. The traditional custodians of the place we now call Sydney are the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. In 1788, the British established a penal colony on the site of modern day Sydney, and this had far-reaching and devastating impacts on the Eora Nation, including the occupation and appropriation of their traditional lands. Despite the destructive impact of colonisation, Aboriginal culture endured and is known globally as one of the world’s oldest living cultures.

Sydney today is in a phase of unprecedented expansion, with its population forecast to increase by 20%, or 1 million people, by 2031. The City of Sydney itself, where many political and cultural institutions are located, covers a relatively small area compared to the greater metropolitan region, which stretches along the coast and inland.

Migration is a large part of Sydney’s story, with around 40% of Sydney’s population born overseas, arriving from almost 200 countries. Today, an estimated 65% of Sydney’s population has at least one parent who was born overseas and almost two thirds of population growth is attributable to migration, approximately 30% of which comes from China and India. Economically, this influx of new skills, ideas and people has been central to Sydney’s strong economy. Culturally, it has had a profound impact, changing the way Sydney residents think about themselves, their commonalities and their heritage.

Since 2014, the City of Sydney has pursued a particular focus on live music, performance venues and the night time economy following the introduction of the controversial state government ‘lock-out’ laws. A response to an increase in alcohol related violence in parts of the city, ‘lock-out’ laws impose strict licensing conditions on Sydney’s nightlife including restricting access to venues from 1:30am