The first male gay character on "Shortland Street" was Jamie Forest (Karl Urban).
The 1st female gay character on "Shortland Street" was Dr. Meredith Fleming (Stephanie Wilkin).
Siobhan Marshall who made a brief appearance in 2004 as Harry Warner's nanny Siobhan O'Leary returned to the soap opera a decade later as Ava Erickson.
Actresses Jaime Passier-Armstrong and Anna Jullienne caused a up-roar in New Zealand TV for their characters being the first Lesbian couple to be married on a New Zealand made show.
As of 2014, Chris Warner (Michael Galvin) is the longest running original character, despite Galvin quitting the show in 1996 and returning to the show 4 years later as part of a revamp.