Parramatta Female Factory Precinct

31/03/2024

Heritage Day at Parramatta Female Factory Precinct - Saturday 18 May 2024
All welcome!

Parramatta North welcomes you to learn the compelling stories and history of the precinct on Heritage Day. Explore the sensitively restored heritage buildings of yesterday, the innovation hub of today, revel in live music, experience bustling markets, and savour delicious food, while children enjoy....

02/12/2022

MEMORY RIVER EXHIBITION this weekend at the precinct - former Parramatta Girls Home site 1 Fleet St North Parramatta.

20/10/2022

At the opening of Protecting Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Asia & the Pacific region Summit in Jakarta (Sept 25-30th) we were honoured with a performance by a women’s choir of political prisoners and family members of political prisoners of Soeharto’s New Order regime Known as DIALITA.

Dialita (short for di atas lima-puluh tahun, or the over 50s) sing a repertoire that focuses on songs that women sung whilst imprisoned, songs written by political prisoners as well as songs critical of colonialism. Dialita members Utati and Mudjiati, both of whom are ex-tapol, or ex-political prisoners, have contributed to documenting and archiving songs that were composed in prison but not written down.

On this evening, Dialita sang two songs at the welcome dinner, Dunia Milik Kita (The World is Ours) by Sudharnoto and Salam Harapan (Greetings of Hope) by Nungtjik AR and Murtiningrum, all of whom were also political prisoners. These beautiful women are extraordinarily courageous. Their contribution reminds us that it is worth fighting for the Precinct as Australia's first site of conscience where in learning about past struggles we help shape a more just and humane future.

20/10/2022

I was recently in Jakarta at a Summit on Protecting Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Asia & the Pacific region where I was invited to speak about PGH/PFFP as a Site of Conscience. This was a major milestone in getting international attention on historical child welfare practices and policies in Australia. It's been such a long journey from my first return to PGH back in 2004, establishing Parragirls and fighting to save the site so that it's history and our history is not forgotten. Jakarta is an enormous city with millions of people where the contrast between rich and poor is very evident. As I was leaving I saw a woman about my age sitting on a plastic mat about 1 x 2 metres on the side of the road. With her were 3 small children maybe 3,5 &7 years (about the age of my grandchildren) sitting very quietly staring at the traffic. All they had was a small bundle of clothes, no shoes. This small patch beside the road was their home. I wondered where the children's parents were, maybe they were dead? who knows? I cannot begin to imagine their lives. It struck me that there is so much inequality in the world, and so much of the burden of just surviving falls on the shoulders of women and that children suffer terribly. I feel so powerless at times and wish more could be done. I've always hoped that PGH/PFFP could become a place where the stories of women and children could be heard, regardless of race, ethnicity or culture, where change for the better can happen, that is what being a site of conscience is all about. Bonney Djuric OAM Founder Parragirls PFFP Inc.

31/05/2022

Australian Heritage Festival @ PFFP North Parramatta Heritage Precinct 29 May 2022.

02/12/2021

QUICK FACTS

An estimated 1 in 7 Australians are descended from the collective institutions of the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct. Over a period of 200 years upwards of 40,000 Australians spent time in
the Parramatta Lunatic Asylum (now Cumberland Hospital) 1847 to present day; at least 30,000 children spent time in the precincts child welfare institutions of the Roman Catholic Orphan School, Parramatta Girls Home & Kamballa & Taldree Children's shelter (1844 to 1983) with around 5000 convict women confined to the Female Factory from 1821 to 1846.

The last of the precincts child welfare occupants, the Parragirls, have led the way in activating the site, bringing it to public attention through successive inquiries the first being the Stolen Generations Report in 1997, the Forgotten Australians Report 2004, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse 2017 and through expose covered by ABC TV Stateline Programs, and in creative cultural developments including Alana Valentines play, Parramatta Girls, now included in HSC drama studies, PFFP Memory Project, Big Anxiety Festival and the Biennale of Sydney.

02/12/2021

$54M TO SECURE FUTURE OF PARRAMATTA FEMALE FACTORY AND DEVELOP ARTS & CULTURAL PRECINCT

The NSW Government has today announced a $53.8 million commitment to secure, restore and preserve the culture, heritage and future use of the Parramatta Female Factory precinct site in Western Sydney. The Female Factory was built to house female convicts in the colony.

Minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the significant funding showed the Government’s commitment to preserving the state’s rich history.
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Now in the bicentennial year of the PFFP 1821 -2021, this announcement is the culmination of more than 18 years of dedicated efforts by Parragirls Parramatta Female Factory Precinct group led by its founder Bonney Djuric OAM, to preserve, protect and promote this institutional precinct so that its history, heritage and legacy is never forgotten.

For more than a decade Parragirls PFFP Memory Project has lead the way in the activation of this historic site as an arts and cultural precinct. First to name the site as the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct to ensure the inclusion of its collective institutions of confinement starting with the Female Factory, the Invalid and Lunatic Asylum, the Roman Catholic Orphan School, Parramatta Girls Home, Kamballa & Taldree childrens shelter and the Norma Parker Detention Centre, Parragirl PFFP Inc has achieved international recognition for this historic precinct as Australia's first Site of Conscience.

Collectively Parragirls have changed the course of history from forgetting to remembering all the thousands of women and children who passed through these institutions and affirmed its presence as Australia's first Women's Place of history and heritage.

The NSW Government has today announced a $53.8 million commitment to secure, restore and preserve the culture, heritage and future use of the Parramatta Female Factory precinct site in Western Sydney. The Female Factory was built to house female convicts in the colony.

20/06/2021

Sorry Day@Parramatta Girls Home- Parramatta Female Factory Institutions Precinct May 2021

19/05/2021

Parramatta’s rich First Nations cultures take centre stage for Warami.

National Sorry Day
Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct, North Parramatta
26 May, 11am-3pm
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and civic leaders will honour the legacy of the Stolen
Generations at a free gathering featuring Smoking and Welcome Ceremonies, storytelling, and performances.

Live music, dance, talks and tours celebrating the City of Parramatta’s rich First Nations histories and cultures will take centre stage as Council presents its annual Warami festival.

Kicking off with National Sorry Day commemorations on 26 May and culminating in outdoor concerts and markets on 11 July for Burramatta NAIDOC Day, the unique cultural program offers free and affordable COVID-safe events for people of all ages.

Parramatta is named after the traditional owners, the Burramattagal clan of the Dharug people, and Warami is a Dharug word meaning ‘good to see you’.

“Parramatta always was and always will be an important gathering place and the Warami festival, now in its third year, honours the cultures, arts, music, languages and powerful connections to Country of our local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Cr Bob Dwyer said.

“This year we are proud to offer incredible experiences over six weeks, showcasing powerful stories of the Stolen Generations, talks by First Nations thought leaders Bruce Pascoe and Karlie Noon, and performances by two of the strongest First Nations hip-hop artists in the country Barkaa and JK-47.

“The Dharug have an ongoing connection to Country in Parramatta and Warami is a wonderful opportunity for the community to learn about the contributions First Nations people make to our global city.”

The event program will centre around this year’s themes: Reconciliation Week’s ‘More Than A Word. Reconciliation Takes Action’ and NAIDOC Week’s ‘Heal Country!’

National Sorry Day
Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct, North Parramatta
26 May, 11am-3pm
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and civic leaders will honour the legacy of the Stolen
Generations at a free gathering featuring Smoking and Welcome Ceremonies, storytelling, and performances.

21/04/2021

PARRAMATTA FEMALE FACTORY INSTITUTIONS PRECINCT is celebrating its bicentenary.

1821 - 2021

The first convict women were admitted to the Parramatta Female Factory in 1821 - since then this institutional precinct has expanded and transformed - firstly with the addition of a purpose built orphanage for Catholic children known as the Roman Catholic Orphan School in 1844, and later the repurposing of this institution as the Girls Industrial School otherwise known as Parramatta Girls Home in 1887.

Parramatta Female Factory Institutions Precinct holds a fascinating maze of stories from convict times to the present day.

We welcome you to join us this year to celebrate this important event as part of the Australian Heritage Festival.

Visit the precinct, see an exhibition and take a tour...

WHEN: Friday 7 May 11-3pm

EXHIBITION: Objects of Memory
LOCATION: 1 Fleet Street North Parramatta

Exhibition viewing times:
Sat 8 May 11-2pm
Tues 11 May 11 - 3pm
Fri 14 May 11- 3pm
Sat 15 May 11 - 2pm
Tues 18 May 11 - 3pm

This is a free event.

21/04/2021

https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/ahf_event/objects-of-memory-parramatta-female-factory-institutions-precinct-bicentenary/

Since 1821, an estimated 80,000 Australians have spent time in the Precinct’s institutions. Today many are discovering their generational connections to these places, including descendants of the convict women of the Female Factory, the children of the Roman Catholic Orphan School, Parramatta Girl...