Yellow neck tie
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- Type
- Neckties
- Date
- 1993
- Place
- Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia; Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Materials
- Textile - non specific
- Collection
- Andrew and Bill Whitbread-Brown collection
- Accession number
- 2023.0001.0001
Description
A yellow necktie. The necktie is monochrome with no pattern. It has a pointed tip and a central seam on the back that runs the length of the tie.
This yellow necktie was handmade by Bill Whitbread-Brown and worn by either/both Andrew and Bill at every public court appearance during the two year legal battle: Hope and Brown vs NIB. Bill handmade two ties that the couple wore, but only one survives.
About the collection
The Andrew and Bill Whitbread-Brown collection contains a Newcastle Herald headline poster, a yellow linen necktie handmade by Bill Whitbread-Brown, and two letters from insurance company nib rejecting applications for family health cover on the basis of sexual orientation. Andrew and William (Bill) Whitbread-Brown began a family together in the early 1990s and in 1993 they separately applied for family health cover through their health fund nib (formally Newcastle Industrial Benefits). The insurer nib was established in the NSW Hunter Region in 1952 to provide health insurance for workers at the BHP Steelworks. The couple were existing members and Andrew worked for BHP. Andrew and Bill were separately denied family cover. The insurer claimed that the couple did not meet the legal definitions of ‘spouse’ or ‘defacto partner’ because they were both men. A two-year legal battle, Hope & Brown vs NIB Health Funds, followed. The case was heard by the NSW Equal Opportunity Tribunal in 1995 and ruled in Andrew and Bill’s favour. The decision was appealed to the NSW Supreme Court in November 1996 and the court upheld the tribunal ruling and dismissed the appeal.
Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 5:31:07 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2025-06-30. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.