Swan Barracks was a military establishment in Francis Street,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. The heritage listed building is located between Museum and

Beaufort Street Beaufort Street is a major road in the inner north-eastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, connecting the Morley area to the Perth central business district. For most of its length, it is a single-carriageway, two-way road with two lanes i ...

Military use

The barracks began as an unnamed

drill hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

constructed in 1896 prior to the

Federation of Australia The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), and Western A ...

. An administration building was later constructed in a style described by the heritage register as "a romantic interpretation of a fortress". Upon

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

the barracks was used by the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

, and became the headquarters of its

5th Military District The Fifth Military District of the U.S. Army was one of five temporary administrative units of the U.S. War Department that existed in the American South from 1867 to 1870. The district was stipulated by the Reconstruction Acts during the Reconstru ...

. An ordnance store was added to the complex in 1905. The barracks was named in 1928. Swan Barracks was a military headquarters during the Second World War. Additional wings were added to the eastern and western sides of the complex during the early years of the war. It was the headquarters of the 5th Division. The Australian Army used the complex throughout the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. In 1992 the Army units stationed at Swan Barracks were relocated to

Leeuwin Barracks HMAS ''Leeuwin'' is a former Royal Australian Navy (RAN) naval base, shore establishment, located in , Western Australia. In use between 1940 and 1984, the base reopened in 1986 under the control of the Australian Army as Leeuwin Barracks. Sh ...

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

. The complex was sold in 1999.

Heritage listing and civilian use

The Swan Barracks complex was added to the heritage list in 1985 and the state heritage register in 1993. The buildings have served a number of uses since decommissioning, including as a backpacker

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...

and a private college.

References

{{Reflist Barracks in Australia Buildings and structures in Perth, Western Australia Military installations in Western Australia State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Perth