Cockatoo Island contains the nation's most extensive and varied record of shipbuilding, and has the potential to enhance understanding of maritime and heavy industrial processes in Australia from the mid-19th century.

[6] In July 2010, UNESCO proclaimed Cockatoo Island as a World Heritage Site,[1] and has been managed by the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust since 2001.

[7] In late March 2005 the Harbour Trust, in partnership with an event organiser, held the Cockatoo Island Festival.

Day visitors are welcome, and can picnic, barbecue, visit the cafe, wander at leisure or take an audio or guided tour.

The two-day festival included twenty-four bands over four stages across the island, and was curated and headlined by Nick Cave, attracting an audience of over 11,000.

Cockatoo Island was the site of a temporary public artwork which resembled the shadow of Captain Cook's commemorative statue in Sydney.

[16] Before the arrival of Europeans, Cockatoo Island was used by the indigenous Australian people of Sydney's coastal region.

[17] In 1839 it was chosen as the site of a new penal establishment by the Governor of the colony of New South Wales, Sir George Gipps.

[17] Later, quarrying on the island provided stone for construction projects around Sydney, including the seawall for Circular Quay.

[18] One prisoner on Cockatoo Island was the Australian bushranger, Captain Thunderbolt, who escaped in 1863 to begin the crime spree which made him famous.

The dock was designed by Gother Kerr Mann, the island's Civil Engineer, and built between 1847 and 1857 utilising convict labour.

The foundation stone of its ashlar lining was laid on 5 June 1854 by Governor Charles Augustus FitzRoy, with the dock being named in his honour.

Over a period of several years prior to World War I, five slipways were either upgraded or constructed in the island, with Numbers 1 and 2 still retained by the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.

The torpedo boat destroyer HMAS Warrego was the first naval ship launched at Cockatoo Island, after being built in the United Kingdom, disassembled, then sent to the Australian shipyard for reassembly.

[24] In July 2010, at the 34th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, Cockatoo Island and ten other Australian sites with a significant association with convict transportation were inscribed as a group on the World Heritage List as the Australian Convict Sites.

Of the eleven sites, as well as Cockatoo Island, the Hyde Park Barracks, Old Great North Road, and Old Government House at Parramatta are also within the Sydney region.

The initial plan, approved by the Minister in 2003,[3] proposed the revitalisation of Cockatoo Island as a landmark harbour attraction with the revival of maritime activities, the interpretation of its rich colonial and industrial heritage, and the creation of parklands and spaces for cultural events.

[36] When a working dockyard, Sydney Ferries Limited and its successors operated services from Circular Quay to the island at shift changeover times.