Convicts and Australia WHO WERE THE CONVICTS? WHAT SHORT AND LONG TERM CONTRIBUTION DID THEY MAKE TO AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY?" During January 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip landed in New South Wales. Of the one thousand people who made the journey, roughly seven hundred were convicts, transported for various crimes, to aid in the establishment of the new colony. Despite conflicting accounts about the reasons behind transportation and the nature of the convicts themselves, there can be little doubt concerning the pivotal role they played in establishing the groundwork of not only the new colony, but of Australia as well. The convicts not only made a significant short term economic contribution t