After four years of bouncing between temporary spaces, storage units and uncertainty, Queer Family Inc finally has somewhere to put down its bags, at least for the next 12 months.
Byron councillors voted on Thursday to grant the Northern Rivers LGBTQIA+ support organisation a 12-month lease over the former Station Master’s Cottage at 80 Jonson Street, Byron Bay, bringing a long-running search for a home to a temporary conclusion.
Queer Family director Aiden Gentle said the decision was ‘really exciting’, and would effectively keep the struggling organisation alive.
‘What Council have been able to put through is quite a good arrangement for us that actually keeps us going and stops us from folding,’ Aiden said.
‘At this stage all of our belongings are in a storage unit, so we don’t actually even have an office anymore.’
The decision follows months of debate over how Council should allocate the cottage, including concerns about governance, fairness and whether one organisation should receive direct access to a public asset.
Public consultation on the proposal drew 88 submissions, with 84 supporting Queer Family’s use of the site and four objecting. Most of the objections nevertheless expressed support for the organisation itself, while questioning the process or location.
The cottage will be provided on a peppercorn arrangement, with Council also backing financial assistance covering rent and fixed charges.
For Aiden, the site’s central Byron location opens up possibilities beyond simply having an office.
They said Queer Family hoped to use the cottage for creative programs, artist residencies and collaborations with queer professionals, potentially including therapeutic services.
‘There’s a real lack of space for creatives in the region, especially Byron because of the expense,’ Aiden said.
‘Being able to support queer artists or creatives is really exciting, to be able to have a space like that in the centre of town.’
But Aiden stressed that Thursday’s decision was not the end of the story.
‘It is only 12 months … so it still leaves us in a bit of a difficult situation with our long-term security,’ they said.
‘Being a homeless organisation is the same as being a homeless person in terms of, you know, it’s a full-time job just being homeless.’
Queer Family has effectively been without a stable home since losing its premises in the 2022 floods. Previous options have included temporary use of The Farmhouse in Mullumbimby and a possible long-term site at the former Mullumbimby sewage treatment plant, but neither delivered lasting security.
Aiden said the organisation was still working with Council and other stakeholders on a permanent solution.
For now, though, the cottage represents something Queer Family has not had for some time: a front door of its own.
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