Fremantle Prison

1. The colonisation of Western Australia as related to the establishment of a penal
colony.
2. Convict histories and experiences of the men and juveniles who were forcibly
migrated to the colony of Western Australia from the period 1850 – 1868, and their
subsequent lives in the colony and state.
3. The experience and histories of prisoners incarcerated at Fremantle Prison from
1886 until the Prison closed in 1991.
4. Transfer of imperial control to local authorities in 1886 and related issues.
5. The experiences and histories of female prisoners held at Fremantle Prison from
1886 until 1970, including women who may have been transferred to Bandyup
Prison.
6. Aboriginal prisoners, their experience of incarceration at Fremantle Prison, and the
issue of Aboriginal over-representation in prisons in Western Australia in the 20th
century.
7. The Rottnest Island Prison, the experiences of the prisoners held there, and the
works they undertook, including the period of its operation by Fremantle Prison.
8. Use of Fremantle Prison by the military, including the experience of those
incarcerated as ‘enemy aliens’ and prisoners of war.
9. The histories and experiences of Prison Guards, Officers and staff from 1850 until
the Prison’s closure in 1991, encompassing the initial period of constructing the
Convict Establishment, administering the institution, the introduction of Prison
Officers, and the employment of adjunct staff such as teachers and social workers.
10. Prisoner attitudes and behaviour, including rioting and disobedience, activities and
activism, and attitudes towards the Prison.
11. Penal philosophy from the Victorian era until the Prison closed in 1991, including
criminology, approaches to justice, and various theories of punishment and reform.
12. Fremantle Prison administration and operation, including functions as a lock-up,
remand centre, and maximum-security prison.
13. Architecture of Fremantle Prison and the separate system.
14. Fremantle Prison tunnels, their construction, and the supply of water to the port of
Fremantle until early in the twentieth century.
15. Prisoner art as a genre and the work of individual artists, both Aboriginal and non-
Aboriginal, undertaken while inside or outside of Fremantle Prison.