Critical Review of Cockatoo Island: History and Significance - Sydney

This report presents a critical review of Cockatoo Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Sydney Harbour. The assignment explores the island's historical significance, tracing its evolution from a convict settlement to a tourist destination. It examines the island's role in Australian history, h...Read More

Running head: FIELDWORK ASSIGNMENT
CRITICAL REVIEW OF COCKATOO ISLAND
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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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

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Australia (Cockatooisland.gov.au, 2019). Thus, the preservation of this particular island becomes
important for the nation of Australia.
Present use of Cockatoo Island
Cockatoo Island is presently used as a tourist destination and the tourism authority of the
nation of Australia as per the guidelines of the UNESCO is presently trying to follow the
framework of sustainable tourism for the development of the concerned destination (Mrđa,
Howitt & Šćitaroci, 2017). More importantly, it had been seen that the tourists arriving at the
concerned island have the opportunity to indulge in various kinds of activities like water sports, a
historical tour of the detention center, sightseeing and others (Cockatooisland.gov.au, 2019). In
addition to these, it is seen that various hotels, resorts and others surrounding the island under
discussion here had emerged in the present times which offer various kinds of tourism services to
the tourists who visit the concerned island. Furthermore, it is seen that because of the historical
significance of the island under discussion here different scholars or for that matter researchers
also visit the concerned island for the purpose of conducting their research (McMillan, 2019).
These in turn had made the Cockatoo Island an integral part of the tourism landscape of the
nation of Australia.
Future Needs of Cockatoo Island
As discussed by Ball, Moro and Bryant (2018), the extensive usage of the Cockatoo
Island for tourism purposes is creating a pressure on the concerned destination and thus it had
been seen that the natural ecosystem of the island under discussion here is getting adversely
affected because of the same. More importantly, it had been seen that the tourist who visit the
location are adversely affecting the concerned island because of the high amount of pollution

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caused by them (McMillan, 2019). These in turn is taking a toll on the flora and the fauna of the
island and thus it becomes imperative for the tourism authority of the nation of Australia to take
the help of adequate measures to preserve the concerned island. For instance, the framework of
sustainable tourism development needs to be followed ardently for the promotion of tourism in
the future taking into account the historical as well as the cultural prominence that the concerned
island holds in the nation of Australia (Mrđa, Howitt & Šćitaroci, 2017). In addition to this, in
order to reduce the damage caused by the tourists to the concerned island, the tourism authority
of Australia can also restrict the number of tourists who would get the opportunity to visit the
concerned island in future. This can be done by taking into account the purpose for which the
tourists intend to visit the island, their duration of stay at the island under discussion here and
other factors.
Areas of Enjoyment
The tourists who visit the Cockatoo Island have the option to indulge in various kinds of
activities which are highly enjoyable in nature. For instance, the tourists have the option to
indulge in various kinds of water sports like skiing, boating and others. Furthermore, the tourists
who are interested in the history of the concerned island have the option to visit the detention
center or for that matter the reformation center wherein the women were kept. These in short are
some of the major enjoyable activities that the tourists have the opportunity to indulge on the
island under discussion here.

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References
Ball, D., Moro, D., & Bryant, S. L. (2018). Australian islands: current thinking, emerging themes
and a way forward to manage these offshore assets. Australian Island Arks:
Conservation, Management and Opportunities, 235.
Cockatooisland.gov.au, (2019). Cockatoo Island. Retrieved 14 September 2019, from
https://www.cockatooisland.gov.au/en/
Hawkins, R. (2016). Under the Colony's eye: Gentlemen and convicts on Cockatoo Island 1839-
1869 Descent, 46(3), 154.
McMillan, K. (2019). Imaging the Island: Interrogating the Settler Colonial Experience.
In Contemporary Art and Unforgetting in Colonial Landscapes (pp. 77-101). Palgrave
Macmillan, Cham.
Milner, L. (2015). Cockatoo The Island Dockyard: Island Labour and Protest
Culture. Shima, 9(1).
Mrđa, A., Howitt, R., & Šćitaroci, B. B. O. (2017, January). Heritage Urbanism as a Planning
Model for Sustainable Cultural Tourism: The Cases of Cockatoo Island, Australia and St.
Catherine Island, Croatia. In 5th UNESCO UNITWIN conference.
Ms, S. S., & Emma, A. (2016). Islands of the Abject: Absence, trauma and memory in the
cemetery island. Landscapes of Violence, 4(1), 2.
News.com.au, (2019). The terrifying secrets behind this photo. [online] Available at:
https://www.news.com.au/travel/australian-holidays/nsw-act/inside-cockatoo-islands-

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