The decision by UNESCO’s advisory body, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), to reject the nomination of Sydney’s historic Parramatta Female Factory for World Heritage listing has dealt a major blow to campaigners who have spent more than 16 years fighting for international recognition of the site.

Constructed between 1818 and 1821, Parramatta Female Factory was Australia’s first purpose-built factory for women convicts, with the sandstone buildings not only serving as a holding bay for thousands of female prisoners transported into the country but also functioning as a factory – inspired by British workhouses – and even housing the only hospital for women in the colony.

Parramatta Female Factory - NSW Government 4.jpg — *Image courtesy* *NSW Government*

The facility was subsequently closed in 1840 and repurposed as a psychiatric asylum, with an orphan school, an industrial school for girls and a women’s detention centre also forming part of the site’s history.

The National Heritage-listed Parramatta Female Factory is not just a part of Australia’s colonial history but also a multi-layered story of forced migration and institutionalisation of women and children across two centuries, coloured by dark narratives of brutality, human depravity and systemic abuse.

Parramatta Female Factory - Parramatta Female Factory Friends (PFFF) 2.jpg — *Image courtesy* *Parramatta Female Factory Friends*

Following a sustained community-based campaign to have the site included in the World Heritage List, the Federal and State Governments worked closely with the local community to accelerate the nomination bid. The precinct was accepted as a Tentative World Heritage Site of Australia in September 2023, with a preliminary assessment request submitted to ICOMOS in September 2024 to determine whether the site could demonstrate the “Outstanding Universal Value” required for inscription.

However, ICOMOS ultimately concluded the site did not satisfy the criteria for World Heritage listing. According to the advisory body, extensive structural changes and demolitions carried out over time had reduced the site’s ability to adequately “reflect the female experience”.

Parramatta Female Factory - NSW Government 2.jpg — *Image courtesy* *NSW Government*

In a joint statement, the Albanese and Minns Governments have expressed disappointment at the outcome but stress that the decision does not diminish the precinct’s national importance.

“This is despite NSW Government investment in major conservation works across the precinct, including restoration of the Parramatta Riverbank and activation of former institution buildings. The nomination focussed on the site’s demonstration of the changing social policies and practices in the treatment of women and children. ICOMOS did not consider this process was of outstanding significance,” the statement reads.

“Nothing can reduce the importance of the precinct's story to the broader Australian story – nor the importance that this site holds to Parramatta, to greater Sydney and to the many descendants of those who were institutionalised at the site.”

Parramatta Female Factory - Parramatta Female Factory Friends (PFFF) 3.jpg — *Image courtesy* *Parramatta Female Factory Friends*

Community action group Parramatta Female Factory Friends (PFFF), which has been leading the World Heritage listing campaign for several years now, says the community feels gutted by the UNESCO rejection.

“The Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct is an extraordinary place. Its layered history – convict women, child removal, institutional care, labour, punishment, maternity care and survival across two centuries – makes it one of the most important places in Australia for understanding women’s experiences in the colonial and institutional past,” says PFFF in a media statement.

Acknowledging the support of local, state and federal representatives during the nomination process, PFFF has now called on the NSW and Australian Governments to work on a renewed pathway to a World Heritage listing for the heritage precinct.

Parramatta Female Factory - NSW Government 3.jpg — *Image courtesy* *NSW Government*

“The Female Factory holds deep significance for many people,” says NSW Minister for Heritage, Penny Sharpe. “Both Governments remain committed to building on the work undertaken to date and to discussing opportunities to strengthen recognition, interpretation and engagement with the site's heritage.”

Federal Member for Parramatta, Andrew Charlton adds, “The Labor Government put Parramatta’s Female Factory forward for World Heritage listing because it is one of the most important historical sites in Australia.”

“Irrespective of the outcome of the UNESCO process, we are determined to protect the Female Factory for future generations.”

Describing the decision as a real blow, NSW Member for Parramatta, Donna Davis says, “We may not have gained a World Heritage listing, but we will not stop fighting for the protection of this site. We all have a part to play to ensure that the experiences of the women and children of the Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct are woven into the Australian story, so they are never forgotten.”

Main image: Courtesy Parramatta Female Factory Friends

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