Publications

Australian Convict Sites Strategic Plan 2024–2026

Strategic objectives for the Australian Convict Sites were originally drafted in 2007 to guide the property through the World Heritage nomination process and to provide strategic direction for the property during its first years after inscription. A ten-year review in 2017 found that the original objectives were no longer consistent with the operational realities of the serial property. As a result, new strategic objectives for the Australian Convict Sites were developed that focus on the core aims of the World Heritage Convention. More recently, a revised version of this document has been endorsed, the Australian Convict Sites Strategic Plan 2024–2026, which sets out the strategic focus and priority actions for the Committee.

Australian Convict Sites Strategic Management Framework (2018)

The Australian Convict Sites Steering Committee (ACSSC) was formed in 2010, following the successful nomination of the Australian Convict Sites to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Committee includes representatives from each site and jurisdiction as well two representatives from the Australian Government. Under the terms of the Australian Convict Sites Strategic Management Framework, signed by Ministers from each jurisdiction, the Committee is responsible for managing, protecting, conserving and presenting the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property. 

Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Nomination

The Australian Convict Sites World Heritage Property was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2010. The extensively researched and illustrated nomination document, which is 252 pages long, was submitted by the Australian Government to the World Heritage Committee in 2008. Including a wealth of information on each of the sites that make up the property, it took over a decade to research and prepare. The nomination is an agreement between the State Party concerned and the international community, in which the former commits itself to protect and manage an identified property on its territory while the latter pledges support and assistance. Download your copy here.

Australian Convict Sites - World Heritage Property

This illustrated booklet is a stunning introduction to the Australian Convict Sites – World Heritage Property. From the first convicts to be transported to Kingston and Arthur’s Vale on Norfolk Island through to the last convicts transported to Fremantle Prison in Western Australia, there is a dedicated chapter about each one of the 11 sites detailing the remaining heritage structures on each site and the lives and deaths of convicts who were transported there. To find out more about the world heritage listing, the convict transportation system, the role of each site within that system, the links between individual sites and convicts who lived, laboured and died there, download your own copy here.