Parramatta Female Factory, Historic female convict institution in Parramatta, Australia.

Parramatta Female Factory stands at 5 Fleet Street, North Parramatta, on a 4-acre portion of William Bligh's 105-acre grant. Convict architect Francis Greenway designed it in 1818; convict labour raised it from locally quarried sandstone and it was completed in 1821 at a cost of £4,778. Three original sandstone buildings remain: the 1821 Matron's Quarters and Administration and Stores Building, the 1821 Female Hospital and the 1826 Third Class Female Penitentiary, enclosed by sandstone gaol walls.

The first female factory opened in 1804 above Parramatta Gaol at today's Prince Alfred Square, holding over 200 women and children in space for 30. Governor Macquarie had Francis Greenway design a purpose-built replacement on a 4-acre portion of William Bligh's grant; Macquarie laid the first stone in 1818, women moved in 1821, and the build cost £4,778. Riots followed ration cuts in 1827, 1831, 1833, 1836 and 1843, and after transportation ended the site became a Convict Lunatic and Invalid Asylum in 1848.

The name "factory" comes from the cloth made here: linen, wool and linsey-woolsey, with 60,000 yards woven in 1822, the colony's first manufactured export. Women also spun, knitted, plaited straw, washed and, in the third class, broke rock and picked oakum. Rations of bread and sugar were cut in 1827, and over 100 women broke out before soldiers brought them back.

The site is at 5 Fleet Street, North Parramatta, about 24 km west of Sydney's centre. The three surviving sandstone buildings and gaol walls stand close together, so the grounds can be seen on foot in a short visit. The site is on the New South Wales State Heritage Register and is being considered for World Heritage listing.

Most women who passed through this place came from Ireland and brought their own languages and traditions with them. This Irish influence left lasting marks on the early history of the Australian colony.