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Princess Margaret Hospital
These pages are dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of children and families who
were affected by PMH in more ways than one, both good and bad.
Thankyou to all the nurses, doctors, counsellors, support staff, youth and social workers, cleaners,
ground staff, volunteers, any and everyone who worked there.
A special thanks to all those who were able to assist with documenting PMH's demolition.
Whilst all so far wish to remain anonymous, the photos on the following pages
come from contractors, urban explorers and a drone.
We can't save every building but documenting them in any way possible is important.
For history's sake!
TBC
January 2019
January 2021
Before anyone starts
Don’t bother looking through these photos if you’re only going to whinge about trespassers.
Put simply, heritage protection and historical preservation in Western Australia is a joke. Yes, our government functions better than those of many other countries, particularly those run like a circus with the world’s biggest narcissistic dunce in charge but that doesn’t excuse what happens here.
Permission is almost impossible
Getting permission to photograph important sites is almost always impossible, even when the work can be undertaken safely and is offered free of charge.
Hundreds of places are demolished across Perth every year without being properly photographed. When official photographs do exist, they’re often buried in government files or held in private collections that are never shared with the public.
A plaque is not a photographic record
Congratulations to the WA State Government for installing a collection of plaques where Princess Margaret Hospital once stood.
To be fair, the information on them is surprisingly detailed compared with the government’s usual efforts. They probably still cost hundreds of thousands of dollars once the metalwork, research, design, consultants and installation were added together.
But plaques are not a substitute for photographs
People connect with photographs. They want to see the wards, corridors, murals, waiting rooms, theatres, equipment and all the ordinary details remembered by former patients, families and staff.
Another familiar heritage failure
Princess Margaret Hospital can almost be placed in the same bucket as East Perth Power Station, South Fremantle Power Station, Sunset Hospital and Jewell House, amongst others.
Decisions affecting these places are repeatedly made by bureaucrats with little connection to the sites or the people who care about them. Community consultation has largely become a box-ticking exercise. People are invited to comment, only to see that their responses mean very little when weighed against government priorities, corporate interests and commercial profit.
PMH meant something to Perth
Princess Margaret Hospital means a hell of a lot to hundreds of thousands of Western Australians.
People were born there, treated there, worked there, recovered there and, in some cases, lost family members there. It’s unlikely that many of those making decisions about the site have the same personal connection to it.
Western Australia does not appear to have anyone with enough authority, interest or determination to properly protect important historic places, let alone ensure they are thoroughly photographed before they disappear and that those photographs are made publicly accessible.
Free documentation still receives little support
This brings me back to the beginning.
Getting permission to document sites in Western Australia is a joke, even when the photography is offered as a free service and the resulting record is intended for the community.
Even organisations doing extraordinary work, such as the Museum of Perth, struggle to receive the support they deserve.
The people making it worse
The situation is made worse by the growing number of feral trash entering abandoned and historic sites purely to damage them for a wannabe TikTok-famous video.
Some carry bolt cutters and grinders and brag that they can do whatever they like because they state they’re untouchable until they turn 18.
Their actions make legitimate photographic access even harder and give authorities another excuse to lock everyone out.
Preserving what remains
Although so much of the buildings had been damaged as part of internal demolition by the time I was given an unofficial opportunity, I could only take as much as I could, until either me or my phone ran out of battery. Aside from my photographic skills improving a huge way since 2021 when these photos were taken, my phone was nowhere as good as what I have today in 2026 but thankfully heavy editing have saved these images.
January 2021
