Police will continue to march in the Mardi Gras parade, with a series of resolutions designed to banish the force participating in the annual event narrowly defeated.
The reprieve follows a decision to ban uniformed officers joining the 2024 march over concerns about their sometimes-fraught relationship with the queer community.
Saturday's annual general meeting hosted by parade organisers decided 493 votes to 459 against barring police from marching until they "demonstrate a commitment to improving relationships with LGBTQIA+ communities".
Motions to ban them without an option to later reconsider the merit of allowing them back in future and letting them march but not in uniform, were also defeated.
NSW Police will need to apply to participate in the parade, along with every other participant.
Uniformed members of the force have previously participated in the parade but the invitation was rescinded last year after an officer was charged with the murder of couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.
Officers were eventually permitted to march in plain clothes, while community consultation found 54 per cent of respondents did not believe police should be allowed to march in the parade on March 1.
A motion sought by Pride in Protest moved to ban police from marching all together with no avenue for them to rejoin in the future.
The group has consistently campaigned for the exclusion of police from the parade, citing a culture of homophobia within the force.
Spokesperson Evan Van Zijl said there were "so many reasons" police should not be permitted.
"Police are a body that continue to do ongoing harm to our community, to Aboriginal people and quite broadly," they said.
"We have police more or less improving their brand, despite making no real change, by marching in our parade and demanding pride of place."
NSW Premier Chris Minns said on Thursday it would be hypocritical to ban police when they would also be expected to provide security at the event.
“(NSW police) have radically changed in the last decades, there's many, many gay and lesbian members that serve with distinction and regard themselves as members of the LGBT community,” he told reporters.
“I'd be really disappointed … it acts contrary to what's been great about Mardi Gras, that it's one of the big events of the year that pulls together (and) this is divisive.”
NSW Police said it welcomed the outcome of the meeting.
"The NSW Police Force has been marching in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras since 1998 and for the LGBTQIA+ staff and allies within the NSW Police Force as well as their friends and family, this remains an important and significant annual event," the force said in a statement on Saturday.
First held in 1978 as a protest against anti-gay discrimination, the Sydney Mardi Gras has grown to become one of the world's largest LGBTQI events.
An estimated 120,000 spectators watched 12,500 participants march along inner Sydney's Oxford Street during this year's parade.
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