Australian Convict Sites, World Heritage convict sites in Australia

The Australian Convict Sites are eleven penal sites built by the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries, spread across Tasmania, New South Wales, Western Australia and Norfolk Island. They range from the Port Arthur and Coal Mines sites in Tasmania and Fremantle Prison to Hyde Park Barracks and Cockatoo Island in Sydney, and Kingston and Arthur's Vale on Norfolk Island.

Britain transported about 166,000 convicts to Australia between 1787 and 1868, for offences from petty theft to political dissent. The eleven World Heritage sites, inscribed in 2010, were built across Tasmania, New South Wales, Western Australia and Norfolk Island. They served forced labour, secondary punishment and rehabilitation, and their records were added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2007.

These sites reveal how the imprisoned shaped early colonial society and contributed to building the continent's infrastructure. You can see where people lived and worked, and understand their role in the development of Australian communities.

The sites are spread across four different states, so plan ahead to decide which locations suit your route. Most are accessible by car, and parking is available at each historic settlement for visitor convenience.

Some settlements featured underground isolation cells where the most troublesome prisoners were kept apart from the general population. You can still walk into these subterranean spaces and feel the harsh conditions that were imposed as punishment.