A state apology following a landmark inquiry into historical hate crimes could mark a line in the sand for the LGBTQI community.
But NSW leaders admit there are still killers walking free as police re-examine a series of unsolved murders, many of them not properly investigated in the past.
The state government on Thursday confirmed it would support all 19 recommendations laid out in the final report of the inquiry, which found gay hate bias a likely factor in 25 of 32 suspected homicides it examined, between 1970 and 2010.
The four deaths of Scott Miller, Paul Rath, Richard Slater and Carl Stockton could be subject to fresh inquests after evidence was uncovered by the inquiry.
Police confirmed they have formally started two investigations, hoping technological advancements could bring breakthroughs.
The government's formal apology on Thursday - which matched one given by police in February - could be a "line in the sand moment" for the LGBTQI community if accompanied by genuine cultural change.
"That is what our community expected and that is what we needed as a step towards moving forward and healing the pain of the last decades," ACON president Justin Koonin said.
"We can't be naive and think one announcement will undo those four decades of pain (but) we have to believe the future can be different."
Senior minister Penny Sharpe, who became NSW parliament's first openly gay woman in 2005, said the inquiry was a reckoning for governments about what role they had played in tragic deaths.
"For many, many years, the perpetrators of those crimes have yet to be brought to justice … there are people who died, there are people who were violently assaulted," she said.
"We cannot shy away from the fact there are perpetrators who still live among us, who have murdered people in this state."
The recommendations included seven relating to specific cases and 12 to investigative and record-management practices.
Police officers are set to undergo additional and ongoing training regarding interactions with the LGBTQI community, including the role of unconscious bias and its impact.
The force will also audit all unsolved deaths between 1970 and 2010, including looking at what evidence had been retained from those matters.
Inquiry hearings revealed shoddy record-keeping, leading to the loss of crucial evidence.
But no timeline has been set for implementation of the recommendations, nor has extra funding been allocated to deliver them.
Twenty-five officers have been pulled off other work to reinvestigate the unsolved cases.
"I don't think we should put a time frame on it, we want to do it right … this is a big body of work and we take it very seriously," Police Minister Yasmin Catley said.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb said it was never too late to open a cold case.
"What is important is that we maintain our exhibits and we review those exhibits frequently as technology emerges ... things have progressed a lot over the years," she said.
In his final report released in December, inquiry commissioner John Sackar said police had often responded to victim's families with indifference, negligence, dismissiveness and hostility.
The government in May apologised to people convicted under past laws criminalising homosexuality, making NSW the last Australian state to issue such an apology.
