Parramatta Female Factory Precinct: PFFP Save the Precinct campaign

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Welcome to the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct blog where you will find information and news about Australia's foremost historic site associated with women and children.

Where is the Precinct located?

The Precinct is located in the heart of Western Sydney about 3kls north of the Parramatta CBD on approximately 56 acres of land bounded by the Parramatta River, Fleet Street, New Street and the Parramatta Gaol…google map

What historic sites does the Precinct include?

The historic institutions of the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct represent two adjoining sites namely, the convict Female Factory (1821 -1847), later the Parramatta Lunatic Asylum and now Cumberland Hospital (1847 onwards) and the Roman Catholic Orphan School (1841 - 1886), later the Parramatta Girls Home (1887 - 1983) and now the Norma Parker Centre – together these sites feature more than 72 buildings, built landforms, structural features, intact sub-floor deposits, open deposits and scatters and individual artifacts.

Help Save the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct

Unlike similar historic sites, the Female Factory Precinct has yet to be recognised and valued as a significant historical site where the legacy of convictism continued to survive in the day to day operations and routines of its later institutions until the 1980′s.

We want to ensure that the site is protected, preserved and valued nationally and internationally. To this end we have submitted a nomination for the Precinct’s inclusion on the National Heritage List which is the first stage towards World Heritage Listing.

Please contact us by email here if you would like to support our call for:

Recognition of the Precinct as a National Heritage site holding particular significance for Women and the Forgotten Australians.
Consolidation of the Precinct’s ownership under an independent statutory authority similar to that of comparative historic sites such as Port Arthur and Old Government House/Parramatta Park.
Utilization of the Precinct as a cultural/heritage tourism destination offering a range of publicly accessible arts focused leisure activities.
Establishment of on site interpretative centres exploring women’s history and heritage, the Forgotten Australians & Stolen generations, the experiences of children and young people and the traditional indigenous people of the region.

visit Parramatta Female Factory Precinct website

Landmarks in social history

With the end of convict transportation to the NSW colony in 1840 Australians began to distant themselves from their convict origins and places such as the convict Female Factory were forgotten. It is not surprising that the Female Factory was re-adapted as a lunatic asylum - after all who but the insane would tolerate living with the memories of convictism and our penal past. Equally this was the lot of orphaned or neglected children in their confinement in the precinct's later institutions, the Roman Catholic Orphan School and later Parramatta Girls Home. The mad, bad and sad were not to be heard, nor seen.They did not matter.

In 1988 Australia celebrated its bicentenary. Australians began to find long forgotten convict ancestors. This decade brought with it major reforms in health, education, welfare and justice. The institutions of the Parramatta Female Factory were shaken up - the Parramatta Girls Home closed; the Psychiatric Hospital's were emptied out.

1997 a watershed year when the Stolen Generations Report was handed down. Australians were now confronted with the truth of injustices visited upon the aboriginal people of this country. This year also marked the introduction of the Human Rights Equal Opportunity Commission - the beginnings of equal rights for women, children and indigenous people.

In 2004 the Forgotten Australians Report was handed down. the report found that upwards and possibly more than 500,000 Australians experienced institutional or out-of-home 'care' as children in the last century. Prominent in testimonies given were accounts of the cruelty and abuse endured by girls committed to the Parramatta Girls Home and its annex, the Hay Girls Institution.

The institutions of the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct are no longer a hidden history of Australia. Please help us preserve this history.

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