Critical Review of Cockatoo Island

Running head: FIELDWORK ASSIGNMENT
CRITICAL REVIEW OF COCKATOO ISLAND
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Location of Cockatoo Island
Figure 1: Location of Cockatoo Island
Source: Cockatooisland.gov.au (2019)
Cockatoo Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located at the juncture of the Lane
Cove River and the Parramatta River in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia
(Cockatooisland.gov.au, 2019).
Historical Significance of Cockatoo Island
Ball, Moro and Bryant (2018) are of the viewpoint that the history of the Cockatoo Island
is an interesting one since at diverse points of time it had been used for different purposes
depending upon the needs of the time. For instance, in the 18th and the 19th centuries or more
specifically between the years 1788 and 1868 it was used as a prison for the convicts who were
deported to the nation of Australia from UK (Mrđa, Howitt & Šćitaroci, 2017). More
importantly, official records show that during this time more than 166,000 children and other
convicts, mainly women served their sentence at this particular island (Hawkins, 2016).

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However, in the later part of the 19th century, the concerned island was made a reformatory
center for girls and thousands of women were detained here and had to undergo a life full of
hardships before they were released (Milner, 2015). More importantly, several of the women
prisoners who served their sentences out here complained about the sexual harassments and other
kinds of problems faced by them (News.com.au, 2019). Presently, the national government of
Australia had made the concerned island a tourism destination wherein people from all parts of
the world visit every year to get not only a taste of history but also the natural beauty of the
island as well (McMillan, 2019).
Preservation of Cockatoo Island
Mrđa, Howitt and Šćitaroci (2017) are of the viewpoint that the tourism authority of
Australia in conjugation with the national government of Australia needs to preserve the
Cockatoo Island so as to safeguard the national history of the concerned nation. More
importantly, as discussed by Hawkins (2016), the preservation of the Cockatoo Island also
becomes important since it had already been declared a “World Heritage Site” by the UNESCO.
Furthermore, the contributions that the island under discussion here had made towards the
national economy of Australia by way of the different tourist activities which are being
conducted at the concerned island are immense (News.com.au, 2019). More importantly, every
year it is seen that thousands of tourists from the different nations of the world come to this
island and thus it had emerged as one of the most important tourist destinations of the nation of
Australia (McMillan, 2019). Moreover, the arrival of the tourists from the different parts of the
world had positively affected the societal framework of Australia and also greatly contributed to
make the concerned nation a multicultural one (Ms & Emma, 2016). In addition to these, the
concerned island is also a symbolical representation of the rich national history of the nation of