Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00053:body:0:p48
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00053
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 126726–129730

(penal stations, female factories, a juvenile prison, underground and solitary cells, barracks, stockades, hospitals and churches), convict-built infrastructure (roads, dockyards, a colliery, crank mills, kilns and brickworks), agricultural properties, government houses and penal administrative buildings.
The Australian Convict Sites are of outstanding universal value as a broad representation of the transportation of convicts to penal colonies around the globe. Convictism is one of the main forms of forced migration, along with slavery and indentured labour. The forced migration of convicts bears important similarities to and differences from these other forms. Penal transportation is an important stage of human history that ushered in a new era in the punishment of crime in the world from the early modern to modern period. From the 17th through to the 20th centuries, the forced migration of convicts affected the development of many nations and the lives of several million convicts and their descendants. The nominated sites are a manifestation of individual suffering and subjugation of one part of humanity by another. They also evoke the universal impulse of nation states and penal reformers following the Age of Enlightenment to bring about the transformation of the criminal elements of society.
The Australian Convict Sites are a compelling expression of these outstanding universal values. The world's major European powers transformed the criminals of their societies into instruments of colonisation and empire building. Convictism was an important global development that contributed to the rise and consolidation of the world economy and spread of multi-ethnic societies during the modern era. The flow of people and labour played a significant part in the world economy particularly during the 19th century. This movement of peoples contributed significantly to the growth and decline of world powers, particularly the British Empire. These developments are fully represented by the nominated sites. The Australian Convict Sites are unparalleled as the best surviving examples of the forced migration of convicts. They reflect the common elements of convictism during the modern era as well as a number of features that are unique in the world. Typically, convictism involved: the use of convicts to extend the geo-political influence of the home state; the transportation of prisoners to penal colonies to deter crime in the home state; and the reformation of convicts. Each site represents one or more elements of Australia's integrated and diverse convict system which included assignment, gangs, probation, female factories, surveillance regimes, entitlement and reward schemes and penal stations. The series of sites illustrates the typical cycle of convicts in the colonies who experienced many of these systems from the time of their arrival until their emancipation or death.
The scale of transportation to Australia was far greater than any other penal colony in the