Cascades Female Factory Historic Site

This UNESCO World heritage site is the best place to connect with a lesser known stories of Australia's female convicts. The story is told through bios and artifacts of the displacement, mistreatment and forced migration of convict women & girls, and their contribution to colonisation throughout the history of colonial Australia to the present day. On the journey women were divided into 2 groups depending on their behavior. The class system regulated clothing & jobs of the women while in the factory. The more trustworthy women were employed as cooks, task overseers & hospital attendants. Second class convicts made clothes for the establishment and prepared & mended linen. The crime class was sentenced to the washtub, laundering for the factory, the orphan school and the penitentiary; they also carded and spun wool. All of these tasks were subject to change at the discretion of the Principal Superintendent.

A must do for people interested in Australia's history. The highlight of this place is the interactive performance at 12 pm each day called "Her Story" which is performed by 2 actors who take you briefly through the experience of a prisoner there called "Mary". It was moving and disturbing. A story that needs to be told. A must do