For more than 15 years, the Parramatta Female Factory Friends have stood as unwavering custodians of one of Australia’s most important and vulnerable heritage sites. Our journey began with an urgent campaign to save the Third-Class Penitentiary from being irreversibly transformed into a computer data centre. This pivotal structure, once integral to the lives of incarcerated convict women, was under threat of technological erasure — its layered history poised to be buried beneath concrete and cables.
Our community-led action, supported by heritage experts, historians, and local voices, successfully halted the development. This was not just a win for bricks and mortar — it was a victory for memory, identity, and justice.
Since then, our sustained advocacy has helped ensure that the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct has achieved the highest levels of recognition:
- State Heritage Register (NSW Heritage Office)
- National Heritage Listing
- Recognised Stakeholder with Heritage NSW
Together with other committed partners, we work closely with Heritage NSW, historians, local government, and the public to champion responsible and culturally sensitive heritage conservation.
Fighting for Integrity Against Ill-Considered Development
Our advocacy does not stop at the gates of the Factory. The heritage values of North Parramatta — and indeed Western Sydney — continue to face significant pressure from rapid urbanisation and inappropriate development proposals.
We have consistently opposed:
- The North Parramatta Rezoning proposed incongruous urban density adjacent to the heritage core.
- The 70m-high tower development at 31 O’Connell Street, a plan that would overshadow heritage buildings and compromise their historical setting.
As we’ve stated in submissions and public forums, such developments risk turning irreplaceable cultural landmarks into architectural afterthoughts. Our commitment to opposing these actions has been acknowledged in state planning meetings and echoed in local and national coverage.
Recognition of Our Efforts
While some of our advocacy has not yet been documented in national headlines, there is growing recognition of our work:
- In 2016, The Sydney Morning Herald covered public backlash over the North Parramatta redevelopment plans, quoting local heritage advocates alarmed at the overshadowing of colonial institutions by high-rise towers.
- A 2020 feature by ABC News highlighted the importance of preserving the integrity of convict sites amid increased developer interest.
- A report by Heritage NSW (2022) acknowledged community stakeholders like the Female Factory Friends as “critical contributors to balanced heritage outcomes.”
- The National Trust of Australia (NSW) has praised community-led action in preserving Female Factory structures, citing the “power of people over politics” in successful campaigns.
The Work Continues
Our commitment is ongoing. We stand firm in our role as advocates, educators, and community stewards. We continue to campaign for:
- Authentic heritage interpretation
- Adaptive reuse aligned with conservation principles
- Public access and recognition of women’s stories
- Respectful development that enhances, not erases, historical significance
We invite you to walk with us in preserving not just buildings — but the stories of the women who shaped our nation from behind factory walls.
Join the advocacy. Share your voice. Help us protect our shared past.
Sources & Mentions
- Heritage NSW. (2022). Community Consultation Report on State Heritage Assets. heritage.nsw.gov.au
- National Trust of Australia (NSW). (2021). Campaign Highlights: Protecting Convict Women’s Sites.
- SMH. (2016). “North Parramatta high-rise fears for heritage precinct.” smh.com.au
- ABC News. (2020). “Convict-era buildings face modern pressures in Sydney’s growth corridor.” abc.net.au
- Informit. (2024). “Out and About: Factory Friends Celebrate 50 Years of Records.” Descent. Link
Please click on this link and sign the Petition to Stop the Gregory Place Development
Recent Advocacy Campaigns
Stop Gregory Place & Save Parramatta’s Heritage! Petition
Call for the World Heritage listing to be resubmitted
Dear Factory Friends,
If you came to the general meeting on Friday, 20 February 2026, or saw Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald on 21 February 2026, you will know the news I am about to share. The Parramatta Female Factory did not receive a stand-alone World Heritage Status. It didn’t make the final assessment. It is no understatement to say the Committee, many members and the community are gutted by the news. The government have shared their commitment, and we need to hold them to it:
The Labour 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.” (Andrew Charlton).
This open letter encapsulates our feelings about the news. After the letter, is what our first step is going to be, and we ask each of you to contact your local politicians, State and Federal Heritage Ministers and make the 5-point demand as well. Email them, visit them, share with your networks. Also, Hon. Penny Sharpe MLC, Andrew Charlton MP, and Donna Davis MP have been exceptionally helpful, so write to them as well to help give them evidence they can use in the continued fight.
Let’s walk together – like the Female Factory women!!!
Much of the community is gutted by the UNESCO rejection of the Parramatta Female Factory for World Heritage. This is after 15 years of advocating for it with support from amazing Australians like Jack and Judy Mundey and Tom and Meg Keneally, 20,000+ petitions from all over Australia and internationally, as well as significant state and government support.
The reason we believe is that its assessment focus was on the institutional care of the submission, not the 1000s of women who went through or the 5 fights for rights by hundreds of women against military, police and the system, including the first women’s workers action.
We are pleading that the state and federal government continue the good work, listen to the women’s voices through history and our voices now. Submit an extension of the 11 world heritage sites to 12, as was done for the Tasmanian Wilderness. Make it a museum with management by museum experts with appropriate funding.
Why is this highly significant women’s site not given the same ongoing care and funding? Surely this site is of no less value, historically or as part of our Australian identity !!!!!!!!
The Parramatta Female Factory Friends have fought for this place. We submitted a successful National Heritage Listing because we believed it was worthy, just as we believe in the world heritage value. Let’s all walk together and honour women, past and present, make this place and its stories accessible to all Australians, not lost again!!!!
What we are asking and what you can include in any communication with others is:
Given the current status of the site and its vulnerability at this point, we call on the Federal Government and the NSW State Government to immediately:
1. Reinvigorate the World Heritage Process by submitting an application to extend the current 11 Convict Sites on the UNESCO listing to include the Parramatta Female Factory national listing. There are a number of precedents, including the recent Tasmanian Wilderness addition.
2. Provide a single transparent governance model for the precinct that will prevent fractured decision-making and project-by-project erosion of heritage values and inappropriate re-purposing. It needs to have a historic site and museum specialisation as seen with Museums of History NSW and Cockatoo Island
3. Give appropriate custodial care through resourcing – a dedicated, multi-year funding envelope for management, conservation works, interpretation design, research access, survivor-informed engagement and high-quality visitor and education infrastructure, including a management structure and incumbents with specific museum and historic built heritage expertise.
4. A museum that honours and shares this foundational history and its potency as a part of our Australian identity.
5. A commitment that any rezoning or major development proposals that have an impact on this National Listing proceed only with World Heritage-grade heritage impact standards and genuine community consultation and well-defined limitations for developers that respect our past and future.
Attached is our press release. You can also use elements of that to state the case of what we want. Your individual responses are more effective than a form letter. Brief and succinct is the best… each communication will help!
We will continue to do what we can to protect this amazing site and ensure its existence and access into the future, so our future Australians can connect with this place and history.
Warmest Regards,
Gay Hendriksen
President, Research Coordinator
Parramatta Female Factory Friends
Gateway to the Past and Present for all Australians