Many bikie clubhouses still remain in club hands.
For decades, the hangouts of outlaw motorcycle gangs have been found in cities and suburbs across Australia.
But police crackdowns in recent years have put an end to a number of bikie clubhouses.
Here’s a look at some of the nation’s most notorious gangs and what has become of their gathering places.
VICTORIA
Finks- Cranbourne West
The home of the Finks bikie gang in Melbourne’s south east was raided in 2019 as part of an attempted murder investigation and firebombed in 2020.
But in 2022 the outlaw motorcycle group made it clear they were still there, with about 300 members arriving at the industrial property from around the country before they took off to Wodonga on the NSW-Victoria border en masse.
Finks Outlaw Motorcycle Gang members during one of their national rides to Cranbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire
Near neighbours include a home builder, gymnastics group, automotive businesses and a specialty cake store.
The 1651sq m complex the clubhouse is located within is divided into a number of strata spaces.
Hells Angels – Alphington
A distinct mural on the front gate of a suburban house on a main road in Melbourne’s north east tells you when you’re on the Hells Angels’ turf.
After more than four decades of police raids, it’s still considered the group’s spiritual home – even after the front gates were ripped off in a 2013 search for machine guns at the property.
But it’s no longer the club’s headquarters in Melbourne.
The gates were ripped from the Alphington premises during a 2013 police raid.
In an area better known for tranquil river walks and schools, it’s surrounded by family homes and close to a new housing development.
The property is estimated to be worth $1.04m-$1.88m, but hasn’t changed hands in decades.
Hells Angels- Thomastown
There’s another Hells Angels crest on the gate in front of a Thomastown address surrounded by automotive and logistics businesses.
The home of the group’s Nomads offshoot, it was raided after a woman’s murder in 1999.
It’s also understood to have been the site of bashings and even someone having their toe cut off by bolt cutters.
The Hells Angels clubhouse in Thomastown during a 2011 police raid.
Despite the club house’s reputation, a coffee shop across the road serves up toasties, burgers, souvlakis and an array of fried foods from potato cakes to hash browns.
Records show the address that backs onto the Western Ring Rd was last sold for $126,000 in the 1980s.
Today, estimates put the industrial property at somewhere between $646,000 and $990,000.
Bandidos- Delacombe
Finding this Ballarat-area clubhouse isn’t exactly difficult – it has its own listing on Google, complete with a five-star review from a user by the name of “chicken terrorist”.
When you arrive, it’s the joint with the big imposing fence topped with security cameras and a “Bandidos MC” sign – almost at the end of a dead-end street, or court – both seem oddly appropriate.
The Ballarat Bandidos got five stars on google. Picture: NCA NewsWire
It’s an industrial area, and the last time the property changed hands on the open market in 1996 the price was just $33,000.
Records show it was transferred for $0 last year, and today it’s classed as ‘owner occupied’.
Its value is estimated at between $238,000 and $388,000.
Bandidos – Brunswick
A former club house, this is another bikie spot you can still find on Google – though it is now marked as ‘permanently closed’.
Today it’s painted black with all of its past signage removed, but once bore a Bandidos sign over the door.
The Bandidos’ abandoned clubhouse at Brunswick has been a wine sotry and a gym since closing as a bikie haunt.
But there’s no indication of a sale or a lease, and valuations put the property opposite a shopping plaza at $1.01m-$1.52m.
The property was run as a handcrafted wines and produce store in 2007, and as a gym in 2017 – so it’s certainly had a colourful past in more ways than just visits from bikies.
If you’re wondering, this one also has a five-star review on Google – left five years ago.
Rebels- Sunshine West
There have been many police raids at this Rebels stronghold, set at the rear of an unassuming industrial estate in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Police have visited over everything from a murder to liquor license breaches.
In 2018 it was also the site of one of Australia’s biggest bikie gatherings when members from across the country descended on the property.
Police take evidence after executing a search at the Rebels Sunshine West premises in 2014.
Local businesses include signage firms, automotive companies and wholesale cleaning supplies groups.
Part of an industrial complex with a variety of businesses associated with it, most of the sites are around 330sq m in size and were sold within the $330,000-$380,000 range in 2005 and 2006.
The largest, at the rear of the site, changed hands for $530,000 in 2016.
Rebels- Long Gully
The Bendigo home of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang is so close to the local RSL they could ditch the Harley and ride their push bike down for a pot and parma.
It used to be the home of the Satans Soldiers bikies, but they were ousted during a hostile takeover in 2019 – with the lower-profile gang allegedly threatened with being shot if they continued to wear their colours.
While it was sold for $42,000 in the late 1990s, the property has gone through a few $0 transfers in the meantime according to online property records.
The more than 2500sq m property is classed as having four bedrooms, but appears to be much more industrial in nature – though there are homes across the street.
Mongols- Port Melbourne
Once upon a time, you knew you were in Mongols territory in Port Melbourne when you saw a street-art representation of Heath Ledger’s Joker on a roller door.
The bikie group’s inner Melbourne location has since had the not-so-subtle hint painted over in black.
But more recent images from inside show a mural of Melbourne present during their time at the property still adorns the interior walls.
Heath Ledger’s Joker meant there was no missing this Mongols haunt in Port Melbourne.
The property is surrounded by homes and businesses in what is considered a fairly desirable part of Melbourne, and is just around the corner from eateries and shops along popular Bay St.
It was raided by police after the 2019 mistaken-identity murder of fruiterer Paul Virgona.
Records show it changed hands for $660,000 in 2016, and was listed for rent in 2019.
These days it’s valued at $691,000-$916,000.
The bikie group seemingly have a taste for art, with their previous clubhouse, in a nearby property in South Melbourne, displaying a hulking Mongol warrior with bikie tattoos looming over the city’s skyline.
NEW SOUTH WALES
Gypsy Jokers- Horsley Park
A Horsley Park property once used by the Gypsy Jokers – which came under the spotlight in 2018 when bikies were alleged to have had sex with an alpaca there – remains shrouded in mystery.
Legal action in 2018 saw the property declared a restricted premises, allowing police to raid the clubhouse.
The Gypsy Jokers’ ex-clubhouse in Horsley Park.
The property was raided by police after it was declared a restricted premises. Picture: NSW Police
A motorcycle front and centre. Picture: NSW Police
The clubhouse in Western Sydney made headlines the same year when the ex-partner of a Gypsy Joker bikie was allegedly abducted, stripped of her clothes and beaten.
The woman, then 22, claimed half her hair was shaved off during the two-day incident at the clubhouse.
The Supreme Court at the time heard police allegations that gang members on site had “stolen an alpaca and were having sexual intercourse with it”, but it was later dismissed as “rumour”.
The court declared the clubhouse a restricted premises because reputed criminals had frequented or were likely to attend the base in the future.
Records indicate the 1Ha property has remained in the same hands since 2005. It last traded for $215,000.
A police officer during the raid on the Gypsy Jokers’ clubhouse.
Joker Lane no more.
Hells Angels – Petersham
A Hells Angels clubhouse in Sydney’s inner west that was firebombed multiple times before police forced its closure in 2013 has been on and off the rental market over the years since.
Records indicated the latest rent was listed at $30,000 a year. It’s understood the building is currently being used as a pilates studio.
The property made headlines in 2007 and 2009 when it was targeted with firebombs. The bigger, 2009 explosion was reported to have blown apart the shopfront. A nearby tattoo parlour was sprayed with bullets the same night.
The wreckage of The Hells Angels clubhouse in Petersham, Sydney, that was firebombed in 2009.
How the property looks today.
The Petersham property allegedly underwent renovations and has mixed zoning, allowing for a multitude of uses. It last traded in 1999 for $535,000.
Bandidos- Molong
A one-time Bandidos clubhouse in regional NSW has changed hands for $675,000 since it was dismantled in 2019 by police following a raid.
The raid had uncovered firearms, ammunition and an illegal puppy farm at the remote 8Ha property in the state’s northwest.
Police also found cupcakes with the club’s logo and items related to the illegal supply of liquor.
The property had previously traded for $325,000 in 2014, records showed. It’s understood to now be used as a private farm and lodgings.
Bandidos- Petersham
A former den for the inner west chapter of the Bandidos was listed for sale in 2011 and finally changed hands in 2014 for $1.05m.
Police had raided the Parramatta Rd clubhouse in 2009 after an under-age party was held inside and teenagers as young as 13 were caught drinking alcohol, according to police.
Inside the former Bandidos clubhouse at Petersham.
Prior to establishing this particular clubhouse, local Bandidos members had been using a nearby Queen St property as a clubhouse before it was firebombed.
The two-level building was listed for rent at $56,600 in 2019.
It has been used as a print shop and warehouse. The 2019 rental listing advised the property had a “modern nightclub theme”.
Prior to establishing this particular clubhouse, local Bandidos members had been using a nearby Queen St property as a clubhouse before it was firebombed.
That event occurred just weeks after a gunman fired eight shots into the building.
Hells Angels- Haymarket
A one-time clubhouse of the Hells Angels in Sydney’s Haymarket is now a commercial premises.
Police raided the bikie clubhouse in 2013 and promptly shut it down after reportedly discovering evidence of illegal alcohol sales.
A property on George St in Haymarket, NSW that was once used as a clubhouse for motorcycle gang the Hells Angels.
The street-level shop was later used as a video store and more recently as a restaurant. There is an Asian-massage parlour upstairs.
Records of when the property last changed hands are not available, but the property was listed for sale through an expressions of interest campaign that ended in March.
The clubhouse was raided and shutdown in 2013.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Hells Angels – Clarence Gardens
After a failed auction and more than 70 days on the market, the Adelaide clubrooms of notorious outlaw bikie gang the Hells Angels finally sold on 21 Nov 2019 for $535,000.
The property, which sits on an 800sq, site, was said to have sold to a local buyer who planned to run a business on the site.
The property attracted interest from developers and individuals looking to retain the home, and despite attracting two registered bidders, it failed to sell at auction and later hit the market with a price guide of $525,000 to $575,000.
Inside The Hells Angels former clubhouse.
The commercial zone property, with its heavily fortified front fence, was home to the notorious gang’s Adelaide southern chapter for several years.
At the time of sale, Realestate.com.au photos showed the property had been somewhat “de-bikied” but several nods to its owners remained. For example, in the lounge/bar area the “Angels Forever — Forever Angels” motto had had the “Angels” painted over.
The commercial zone property was heavily fortified.
Descendants- Pooraka
Members of the Descendants outlaw motorcycle gang were notified in August they faced up to three years in jail if they as much as set foot in their northern suburbs clubhouse.
SAPOL and the SA government declared the OMCG’s meeting place a “prescribed place”, meaning any club member who enters the premises can be arrested and charged under the state’s tough anti-bikie laws.
SA Police Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams said the declaration aimed to disrupt the club’s illegal activities.
Rebels- Old Noarlunga
The Rebels Motorcycle clubhouse had been the target of a number of arson attacks, the first being in 2008 following several vicious brawls at Port Noarlunga Hotel and Lonsdale Hotel, and another in 2011. During this attack, an arsonist broke in and used an accelerant to light the fire around 11.30am, causing fire damage to one room and smoke damage throughout the compound.
The Rebels fortress-style building at Old Noarlunga.
It was yet another bikie hangout raided by police.
The property was situated in a semi-industrial area surrounded by high, cement rendered walls and had at least three cameras looking over the front fence, while a video intercom was installed at the gate. The clubhouse made national headlines in 2009 when it hosted a wild party for national president Alex Vella.
Hells Angels- Ponde
Hells Angels members were last year banned from setting foot on their Murray Mallee meeting place after state parliament passed a law designating the notorious site a prescribed place.
Located about 100km east of the city, the Ponde compound hosted a rock music festival from 1979 to 2002. The site hosted concerts, drag races and motocross events for years.
Music fans at Ponde rock music festival, held by the Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club in Ponde near Mannum, SA, 21 Feb 1993.
Police conducted an extensive search of the property in 2019, looking for evidence linked to a bloody bikie feud going back 20 years. Stolen vehicles were removed and police found and confiscated two firearms. They also found a Toyota Echo buried 15ft deep, which was believed to have been the getaway vehicle in the murder of Mark Boyce who was beaten to death in 2017.
Rebels- Adelaide
The city clubrooms of the notorious Rebels bikie gang was the site of a 2am violent bloodbath when Graham Nixon, Sinibaldo Palombi and Hubert Western were all killed in an incident between Rebels Members and Hells Angels members on October 8, 1999.
Three men believed linked with the Hells Angels arrived at the Rebels Clubrooms in Wright Street Adelaide about 2am, following an altercation between members of the two groups in Rundle St earlier that evening.
Two of the three Hells Angels members produced firearms and shot at the Rebels members, with five of them being shot.
Two of them died at the scene and the third died a few days later in hospital.
Two Hells Angels members were later arrested, but a lack of co-operation by members of the Rebels saw the charges dropped.
Drone shots from the late discovery of the car remains at Ponde Hell Angels property during the search for evidence in two murder cases. Picture: Nine News
Police search the area around the clubhouse Picture: SAPOL
QUEENSLAND
Rebels- Albion
This old Queenslanders has had a chequered history as the former headquarters of the Rebels Motorcycle Club.
It has been firebombed and peppered with gunshots by rival gangs over the years.
Records show it is still owned by former a Rebels Australian founding father who ruled the club for 40 years until 2013, when it was designated an outlaw motorcycle club by the then Queensland Government under its controversial anti-bikie legislation under Campbell Newman.
Records show the property was last rented in 2019 for $650 a week. The two-storey house, on the corner of Frodsham and Lucy streets in Albion, is nestled among houses and industrial buildings and within 1.5km of 12 schools or daycare centres.
The clubhouse was gutted in a 2007 revenge-fuelled arson attack by rival Bandidos. Two years earlier, police found a pump action shotgun and shells at the premises.
The Rebels still own their old Albion HQ.
Odins Warriors – Townsville
In 2020, police seized drugs and money in the shut down of an alleged clubhouse linked to this outlaw motorcycle gang in the Townsville suburb of Garbutt.
During the search, police found and seized items including Odins Warriors Outlaw Motorcycle Gang paraphernalia and quantities of cannabis and amphetamine.
Police seized multiple items including event tickets and payments, an entertainment system and alcohol, and alleged the group was operating a clubhouse at the premises.
Records show it last sold a year ago for $195,370.
Townsville Police raided a Garbutt warehouse in August 2020 where an Odins Warriors OMCG was gathering as a clubhouse.
Drugs and OMCG gear was seized during the raids.
Rebels – West End
A former Rebels Motorcycle Clubhouse where gathering was deemed illegal by the Newman Government in 2013. The property was sold in 2018 to a company registered to a renowned Townsville dressmaker for $305,000, and listed to rent in 2023 as a boutique showroom for $70,000 a year.
Black Uhlans – Burleigh Heads
Once a well-known hideout for the Black Uhlans, mystery shrouds this industrial unit in a popular part of the Gold Coast.
In the same street, the Hells Angels also had a clubhouse which was raided by police in 2015. Police found a bar, entertainment equipment, gang signs and artwork, and vests emblazoned with the logo of outlaw motorcycle club, the Red Devils, a feeder club for the Hells Angels.
Ice, ecstasy tablets and cocaine worth $15,000 were discovered in the bar area.
The Ern Harley Drive property last sold in 2002 for $130,000, according to property records.
The old Black Uhlans clubhouse in Burleigh Heads.
Hells Angels – Burleigh Heads
Former Hells Angels Gold Coast chapter’s clubhouse. The two-storey, three-bedroom house sold in 2015 for $670,000.
Rebels- Virginia
This was the site of a dilapidated post-war cottage tucked away in an industrial estate and used as a Rebels clubhouse. It was sold for $437,000 in 2015 and the house since demolished.
Rebels Slacks Creek
A mixed-use commercial property.
Rebels- Lawnton
A live music venue and car repair workshop that allegedly doubled as a Rebels Clubhouse, and sat between a high school and children’s play centre when it was raided in 2018.
Rebels – Rockhampton
A former hide-out for the Rebels. Now a commercial premises.
Outlaws – Boyne Island, near Gladstone
Formerly used by a chapter of the Outlaws bikie gang. Comprises seven storage sheds and workspaces in an industrial complex.
The Outlaws had a clubhouse at Boyne Island.
Cairns
A tattoo parlour last sold in 2010 for $440,000.
Gladstone
Recently leased as a commercial premises. Gladstone was home to a slew of chapters including Black Uhlans, Rebels, Bandidos and Odin‘s Warriors.
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