What You Need To Know About the Toowong Cemetery Ghost Tour

The Toowong Cemetery Ghost Tour is a fun, chilling, and educational tour that is not for the faint of heart. If you’re ready to hear spooky stories such as The Statue That Moves, Ghosts of Paddington Cemetery, Mayne Murder, and The Black Prince, here are a few things you need to know before booking your tour.


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It’s presented by Jack Sim

Jack Sim,  Director of Ghost Tours Australia, has been hosting true crime tours around Brisbane for over 25 years, in hopes of raising awareness of some of the city’s most terrible crimes.

Sim, a dark historian, authored Ghost Trails, a collectors’ series for fans of Haunted Heritage consisting of creepy collections of several hundred sites based on a theme. 

Toowong Cemetery Ghost Tour
Jack Sim (photo credit: ghosttoursaustralia.com.au/)

Those who will join the Toowong Cemetery Ghost Tour will get a copy of The Ghosts of Toowong Cemetery written by Jack Sim.

You can take photos only

Filming is strictly not permitted. However, you can take some photos whilst on tour, as long as it’s done whilst the guide is not speaking to avoid distraction.

Wear a pair of comfortable shoes

The tour is going to last for two hours. With that in mind, it’s best to wear flat-soled enclosed shoes. Please note that thongs, sandals, and high heels are not permitted on tour.

Ghost hunting is not allowed

Hence, guests are not permitted to use Ouija boards, pendulums, video and still photography, psychic, medium and clairvoyant channeling of spirits, as well as apps for ghost hunting or paranormal investigation during the tour. 

Those who are interested in Paranormal Investigations are encouraged to join Ghost Tours Australia’s ghost hunting tours at the Goodna Cemetery and Ipswich Cemetery.

Certain Level of Fitness is Required

Toowong Cemetery Ghost Tour
Photo credit: Ghost Tours Australia – Brisbane/Facebook

Because steep hills are involved in the tour, it’s important that guests have moderate to high levels of fitness. Make sure to check the disability requirements for the tour, just to be sure.

You can bring the kids

Kids over the age of 10 are allowed to join the tour. However, parents and guardians are being reminded that the tours usually feature strong content in the form of true historic ghost stories. 

The stories may include gruesome and macabre material including murders, crimes, violence, deaths, executions and suicide. The stories can be frightening, scary and distressing especially for young children.


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Bring your own torch

Each guest at is required to bring their own torch. Torch apps on smart phones are suitable.

To learn more about the Toowong Cemetery Ghost Tour or to buy your tickets, visit https://ghosttoursaustralia.com.au/

Historian Asks For Preservation Of Burial Sites In Toowong Cemetery

A Queensland historian is calling on authorities to restore the deteriorating burial places at Toowong Cemetery, in honour of Brisbane’s past and the people buried there.


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Jack Sim, a member of the voluntary organisation Friends of Toowong Cemetery believes Brisbane City Council would need an emergency fund to promptly repair the broken sites, as the cost of repinning a headstone is estimated to be around $3,000.

Jack Sim after donating funds to restore the graves at Toowong Cemetery in 2014 (Photo credit: Haunted Heritage/Facebook)

Whilst some headstones survive, many have been smashed and there are slabs that have been cracked open. Some graves have been overrun with weeds. With thousands of dollars needed for one headstone alone, the extent of damage at the cemetery could amount to multi-millions of dollars.

Yet under the Cemetery Act 1865, a grave and its monuments belong to the dead person’s family. Although the Council is in charge of Toowong Cemetery, they cannot touch damaged graves regardless of whether the damage is because of time, nature or human activity.

Photo credit: Beachcoma/Google Maps

BCC maintains 12 cemeteries, including the one in Toowong and whilst they allocated $12 million in the financial year for the maintenance of the cemeteries’ lawns and gardens, they will not pay to fix the graves.

There are approximately 117,000 people buried at Toowong Cemetery, including politicians, sporting legends, poets, soldiers, and celebrities.

The heritage-listed cemetery contains the war graves of 270 Commonwealth service personnel of World War I and 117 from World War II, besides two sailors of the Dutch Navy from the latter war. 

Grave of Walter Vardon Ralston (1846-1920), general manager of the Queensland National Bank (Photo credit: Vic Bushing/Google Maps)

One of the most notable graves here is where Sir Samuel Walker Griffith rests. Sadly, the crucifix on his monument was left broken. He is one of the founding fathers of Australia’s Federation, author of the Constitution. Aside from being a former Queensland premier and first chief justice of Australia, he’s known for being one of the greatest jurists produced by Australia in the 19th century.

Photo credit: Cate/Find A Grave
Grave of Bancroft family, who are among Queensland’s most notable medical families (Photo credit: Toni Hughes/Facebook)

It also serves as the final resting place of John Petrie, first mayor of Brisbane, who was buried with his wife in their plot in the cemetery.


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Mr Sim, who has been donating funds for Toowong Cemetery’s grave restoration through the years, believes Toowong Cemetery deserves to be preserved because cemeteries are all about our history and our people.