The Federal Environment and Energy minister Josh Frydenberg has added Sydney's 'Parramatta Female Factory' to the National Heritage list.
The Parramatta Female Factory, which during the convict era housed women who were deemed to be 'uncontrollable', has been added to Australia's National Heritage list.
Once used as a psychiatric facility, the building and grounds is only the 113th to be added to Australia’s National Heritage List, and one of only a few in Sydney’s western suburbs.
Federal Environment and Energy minister Josh Frydenberg handed down the decision on Tuesday, saying the "National Heritage listing will allow the Australian community to stand witness to the lives and experiences of women and children who lived there.”
For almost 200 years, women from Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales were sent to the site for their crimes. Children were allowed to stay with their mothers until the age of four, when they were sent to an orphan school, or fostered out.
According to some media reports, an estimated 5,000 inmates went through the Parramatta Female Factory, and up to one in 10 Australians descended from these women.
The North Parramatta Resident Action Group has been instrumental in gaining the heritage listing, which could complicate state government plans to build a 30-storey tower near the site.
Other National Heritage sites include Old Government House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and Sydney's North Head.
The Parramatta Female Factory history
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