As early as 1889 girls began rioting to express their anger at the conditions of the Parramatta Girls Home, an industrial school and reformatory run by the New South Wales Government from 1887 until 1975. Some 30,000 girls passed through the doors of what is now regarded as one of the most notorious institutions of its kind in Australia. Plays, documentaries and books have been produced about the lives of former inmates, greatly increasing community awareness about their experiences. The Parramatta Industrial School site is listed on the State Heritage Register and the Register of the National Estate. Parragirls, an organisation of former inmates, is lobbying for the preservation of the site as an International Site of Conscience.
